


This Wild World

by Cats_Dont_Float



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Abusive Dave's Bro | Beta Dirk Strider, Blood and Injury, Dream Bubbles (Homestuck), F/F, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Meteorstuck, Past Child Abuse, Sexuality Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-02-23 02:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23804404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cats_Dont_Float/pseuds/Cats_Dont_Float
Summary: Just as he comes to terms with himself, his sexuality, and his feelings, Dave's life is thrown into jeopardy again as the meteor passes through the biggest dream bubble they've ever experienced and he and the others become trapped in a twisted version of Earth, filled with their dead selves and painful memories. Put to the test against their worst fears, there's no time to be focusing on things like romance. Right?
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam
Comments: 34
Kudos: 202





	1. Beginning

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] started pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at ??:?? --

TG: yo

TG: rose

TG: you awake?

TT: Yes.

TT: Can I help you with something?

TG: oh yeah

TG: got a question for you

TG: its a real head scratcher

TG: if youve got the time to answer

TT: Well we seem to still be stuck on a meteor with nowhere to go for three years, so I’d say I’ve got all the time in the world.

TT: Or I suppose you do, actually, as a Knight of Time and all.

TT: What I mean is: fire away.

TG: right thanks

TG: um so maybe you dont remember but a while ago we had a whole sorta chat about some things

TG: sorta thing karkat wouldve called a feelings jam 

TG: strange little guy isnt he

TG: anyway i sorta had a think about some of the stuff we were talking about in that even though i said you were talking shit at the time

TG: sorry about that by the way

TT: Forgiven.

TG: thanks

TG: anyway yeah i was sorta wondering if youd be down for like talking me through some more of this stuff cos i think weve worked out by now that im not too good at dealing with this emotion shit

TT: Ah, I take it this is to do with your recent sexuality crisis?

TG: what?

TG: sexulaity crisis?

TG: who said anything about a sexuality crisis?

TT: You.

TT: Like two weeks ago.

TT: Multiple times in an hour.

TG: alright alright got it

TG: look its not a crisis its just…

TT: Coming to terms with yourself and seeing past the heteronormativity and internalised homophobia that society and your upbringing have written into your subconscious?

TG: sounds about right yeah

TG: maybe you were right last time ya know

TG: like maybe im not 

TG: you know

TG: totally straight

TT: Yes, Dave, I think we’ve established by now that you aren’t one hundred percent straight.

TT: But the fact that you’ve accepted that yourself is actually quite a step forwards.

TT: But you said you had a question.

TT: Is there anything in particular that’s bothering you?

TT: Or is it just your usual self doubt?

TG: huh 

TG: both i guess

TG: but mostly…

TG: youre sorta like an expert on relationships and sexuality stuff or like the closest thing to an expert weve got on this meteor

TG: so

TG: like

TG: how do you know when like youre actually interested in dating someone and when its just… like your brain being weird and taking friendship too far

TT: Is this about Karkat?

TG: what?

TG: no

TG: shut up

TG: this was a bad idea

TT: Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t be so nosy.

TT: Keep talking.

TG: …

TG: fine

TG: can you just

TG: okay this is gonna sound weird but could you maybe like

TG: tell me how you knew kanaya was the one

TT: That does sound a little strange.

TT: But I suppose I could do that.

TT: Okay.

TT: Kanaya is like my best friend.

TT: When I talk with her it feels comfortable and easy, but also i can spend hours with her in silence and still feel like I’m having a good time.

TT: Being around her just feels right.

TT: But more than that, it’s like every time I see her I’m excited to talk to her and just spend time on her. She’s just the best thing that ever happened to me.

TT: She’s like my best friend, but more than that too. And every time I see her I just know that things are going to be okay, and that she’ll be with me through everything.

TT: …

TT: Dave?

TG: aww

TG: that was sappy as fuck rose

TT: Wonderful, thank you for the feedback, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind next time you make me wax poetic about my girlfriend.

TG: sorry

TG: but seriously thanks for that

TT: Did that actually help?

TG: you know what

TG: yeah i think it did a bit

TG: or maybe it makes things more confusing

TT: How so?

TG: like okay so maybe i am feeling these things

TG: but now what the fuck do i do about that

TG: like genuinely rose how the fuck do you deal with having crushes

TG: how did you not spontaneously combust the second you saw kanaya

TG: or did you?

TG: did you explode the first time you saw kanaya and ive just been talking to myself this whole time?

TG: woah

TG: mind blown

TG: wait is that what the green sun was?

TG: you exploding into a billion pieces because of a cute girl?

TG: thats kinda lame rose

TT: Dave.

TG: yes 

TT: I think you already know deep down what you want to do.

TG: it doesnt matter what i want to do its about whats right to do

TT: I don’t think I can decide that for you.

TT: Also, as much as I love talking about your issues, and really, I do, your brain is intriguing

TG: thanks?

TT: Vriska’s messaging everyone and I don’t think it’s a good idea to ignore her.

TG: right

TG: uh well thanks i guess

TT: No problem.

TT: Good luck with Karkat by the way.

TG: what 

TG: i didnt say anything about that

TT: Didn’t need to.

TT: Just… Do what you know is right.

TT: And check the memo board.

TT: Now.

TT: See you later.

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] is now an idle chum --

\-- arachnidsGrip [AG] opened memo on board METEOR CREW at ??:?? --

AG: Hey losers.

AG: We’re a8out to pass through another dream 8u88le.

AG: And it’s a 8ig one.

AG: Might wanna prepare yourselves.

\-- arachnidsGrip [AG] is offline --

CG: IS SHE SERIOUS?

CG: IS SHE NOT GIVING US ANY MORE INFORMATION THAN THAT?

CG: FUCKING SPIDER BITCH.

TG: heh

TT: I’m not sure why she felt like she needed to inform us about a dream bubble? 

GA: Yes

GA: Its Not Like These Things Are Uncommon

TT: She said this one is big.

TT: Does that mean bigger than usual?

TT: And if so how much bigger?

TT: We could really do with some more information here.

CG: YEAH YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GET ANYTHING ELSE OUT OF HER.

CG: SHE THRIVES ON MYSTERY.

GA: That Is True 

GA: Vriska Has Always Loved Turning Things Into A Fun little Game For Herself

TT: Wonderful.

TT: So we’re still in the dark about this?

GA: Yes.

GA: And I Suppose We Will Be Until We Reach This Bubble.

GC: W3’R3 G3TTING CLOS3 TO 1T 

GC: 1 C4N S33 1T 4PPRO4CHING FROM TH3 ROOF

GA: Youre On The Roof?

GA: Why?

GC: WHY NOT?

GA: Just Come Inside

GA: You Dont Want To Be Up There When The Bubble Hits

GC: 4LR1GHT

TT: Right.

TT: So I suppose all we can do is prepare for this bubble and hope Vriska is being more dramatic than she needs to be.

CG: I’M SURE SHE IS.

TT: Either way, it’s best to be prepared.

CG: YEAH YEAH WHATEVER

CG: WE’VE BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH OF THESE TO KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON

CG: I DON’T KNOW WHY SERKET’S BEING SO SHADY ABOUT IT BUT IT’S PROBABLY JUST HER USUAL BULLSHIT.

CG: WHO GIVES A SHIT?

CG: WE JUST PASS THROUGH THE BUBBLE, DEAL WITH SOME FUCKING GHOSTS PROBABLY, AND THEN GET BACK HERE IN A FEW HOURS. 

CG: SHIT’S EASY.

TT: Right, well, thank you for the input, Karkat.

CG: JUST BEING A VOICE OF REASON AMONGST YOU IDIOTS.

CG: SEE YOU DUMBASSES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUBBLE.

\-- carcinoGenetecist [CG] is offline --

TT: Wonderful. 

TT: Well, I suppose there was some sort of reason in that argument.

TT: See you all later after the bubble.

TT: Or maybe in the bubble, depending on the nature of it.

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT]is offline --

TG: nice 

TG: peace out 

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] is offline --  
\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] is offline --  
\-- gallowsCalibrator [CG] is offline --

Dave clicks off of the meteor chat with a sigh, worry eating away at the back of his mind, along with the nagging fear that Rose knows exactly what he’s thinking at all times. And if she’s so certain she knows what he feels about Karkat, then does that mean he’s really been that obvious in his feelings? So… does Karkat know what he’s hiding? That thought sends another wave of fear crashing over Dave’s mind, and sits further back against the wall next to his bed, drawing his knees up to his chest and curling in on himself as he takes in a deep breath.

He’s sure, from everything Rose has said and everything she’s taught him, that how he feels about Karkat is more than friendly. Every time he’s around the troll he feels like he’s soaring, like he’s safe, and like he’s never been so happy before. All he wants to do is spend every second of his life with Karkat. But he knows the troll doesn’t feel for him like that, and with every day it presses further and further in on him like a dark cloud of thoughts he’s trying to block out.

His phone, still gripped into his hand, presses awkwardly into his palm, and he sighs softly as he feels it buzz, probably another message from Rose. He loosens his grip, feels it slide through his fingers and down onto the bed below. And the second it hits the soft mattress below and bounces slightly, there’s a blinding white flash of light that spreads across his vision, whiting everything out. Vaguely, he feels the back of his head hit his pillow before he’s suddenly falling through darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm planning for this to be less than 10 chapters, and to get it all posted within the next few weeks as most of it is already written, so if you don't like waiting ages for chapters then this fic's for you! anyway this is based on a whole idea i had listening to Warmth by Bastille (title inspo too) and i'm bored so i'm finally writing it. thanks for checking it out if you did and i hope you'll stick around for the next chapters.


	2. Unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: warnings for the chapter ahead include: blood, injury, death, ghosts, vague references to dave's past

When he comes to, Dave’s laying on his back, staring up at a sky that’s an unnaturally bright blue and almost entirely free from clouds aside from a few white wisps here and there. Dave’s not sure he’s ever seen a sky so blue in all his life. It looks more like the sky above John’s house in all the photos his friend used to send him when they’d first met online, and so far from how the sky ever looked when he was living in Texas. There’s grass underneath him too, he can feel it under his arms, cool and comfortable, and he flexes his fingers gently, feeling dirt shift under his fingertips. A cool breeze ghosts gently over his skin, and he tilts his head backwards into the ground slightly to feel the wind over his face. It’s peaceful, and for a second he lies there and stares upwards, until even through his shades the sky gets a little too bright to bear. Then he rolls sideways and slowly drags himself up to his feet, looking around himself curiously.

All around is grass, stretching outwards in every direction, lush green grass under a vivid blue sky. But then, far off, right on the horizon, there’s something: a small line of trees, breaking up the skyline. It’s like nothing Dave’s ever seen in a dream bubble before, and for a moment he stands and stares at the horizon, before pushing up off of the ground and flying upwards into the air. From higher up he can see the way the line of trees extends outwards beyond the horizon, stretching out into a large, sprawling forest. He spins slightly to look around him, but the distant forest is all he can see aside from that endless grass field, and with the only place to go being that forest, he leans forwards a little and flies off towards it.

Below him, the dream bubble blurs by, and Dave watches it go curiously, looking out for any signs of life below. But there’s nothing. The dream bubble is strange, and unfamiliar, and so different to anything Dave’s seen there yet. The sight of it all leaves him feeling a little anxious, trying to work out what it is, and there’s a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach, telling him that something strange is going on here. The bubble looks like Earth, or at least that’s what he thinks. He’s never seen a place on Earth that looks like this in person, but from things he’s seen on tv and online throughout his life he’s sure this has to be somewhere on Earth. It doesn’t look like any of the alien planets they’ve seen so far, that’s for sure.

When he reaches the forest, he doesn’t land right away, flying low over the tops of the trees for a while instead, keeping an eye on things below. The trees are close together and cramped, branches tangled together. Between small gaps in the leaves he can see down to the forest floor, where gnarled tree roots are tearing up out of the ground and running back and forth across the dirt, along with small clearings here and there, and what seems to be a tiny stream making its way through the undergrowth.Dave’s almost about to stop and land to look around more when he sees it approaching in the distance. A looming grey shape, stretching up above all the trees, blocking out the sunlight and casting shadow over the surrounding area.

Dave freezes in midair at the sight of it.

His old apartment, just sitting there in the centre of a forest, like it;s always been there.

It’s not an unusual thing to see. Dave sees his apartment in these dream bubbles a lot, but usually it’s back in Texas, or on LOHAC. Never before has he found it so randomly placed. What’s worse is the state it’s in. Vines grow their way up the sides of the building, working their way into random cracks and windows, tightening around the whole place like they’re squeezing the life out of it. For the first time he catches sight of something other than plants: crows, hundreds of them, swooping and diving around the building and screaming amongst themselves.

As he watches, one crow tears away from the group, turns in midair, and flies straight at him, beak stretched open in a silent scream as it soars towards his face. Dave flinches sideways, and feels the crow fly past, one outstretched wing clipping his face, feathers grazing his cheek, and he curls in on himself in the air as the crow circles around him again and flies back towards the others.

With the crow gone, Dave calms himself, feels his racing heart fall slowly back into its usual rhythm, and stares back towards the distant apartment. Part of him wants to turn and fly as far away as possible, as far from that forest as he can get, but he knows this apartment has to be here for a reason. There’s always a reason for everything these bubbles create. So he steels himself, gathering his thoughts and trying to search inwards for some courage, and slowly starts off towards the apartment.

As he gets closer the crows turn their attention back towards him. Dave presses onwards, aiming for what he knows to be the window of his old bedroom, half-open and a good enough entrance to the place, but the crows circle, squawking and screaming at him. Eventually, one dives inwards, catches the collar of Dave’s shirt between his beak and tugs at it, halting him in his journey. The others are quick to join, pecking at him and grabbing and tearing at his clothing. Claws catch at his skin, puncturing and tearing, and he winces as he catches sight of bright red blood beading along his arms. Still, he keeps flying as best he can, batting away the birds that are in his arms reach, wincing at every single impact on his skin that he feels. The screeching of the birds reaches a crescendo as he gets close to the window, echoing and ringing in his ears until finally he gets close to the window frame and grips onto it, hauling himself inside.

With a dull thud he lands face first on the carpet, as ungracefully as possible, and lets out a loud groan. Vaguely, he recognises the sound of metal sliding against metal, a sword being pulled from its sheath, and then:

“Who the fuck are you?” 

Dave sits up on the carpet. For a moment his heart pounds as he finds someone looming over him, sword held out in his direction, but then he recognises the shape of circular lenses rather than triangular shades, and lets out a small igh of relief. It’s just another one of his ghosts.

“Ugh, you,” the dead Dave grunts, and he loosens his grip on his sword, swinging it down towards his side.

“Uh, yeah, sup,” Dave grunts. He goes to get to his feet, but before he can the ghost drops down onto the carpet opposite him, sword still gripped loosely in his hands.

“Alive?” The dead Dave guesses.

“Yeah,” Dave replies.

“Hmm, thought so,” the ghost mumbles, “Not many other ghosts come wandering around here.” He pauses for a moment, before adding, “How’s the game going?”

Dave shrugs. “Stuck on a meteor for a few years, not much going on at the moment.”

“Did you… did you get to meet the others?” the ghost asks.

“Some of them,” Dave says, “Not met Jade and John yet. They’re sorta stuck on the other side of space right now. Rose is with me though. She’s… sorta what you’d expect. And we’re with some of the trolls.”

“Oh yeah?” The ghost asks, “I see some of them guys around here. No one comes up here though. The crows keep them away.”

“Yeah, what is with the crows?” Dave asks.

“I think they’re trying to protect me,” the ghosts shrugs, “They’ve been here for as long as I can remember.”

“How… How long have you been here for?” Dave asks, “When did you… you know, die?”

“Didn’t escape the meteors,” the ghosts sighs heavily, “Jade didn’t get her fucking disk in time or whatever. Doomed timeline.”

“Right,” Dave says with a nod. He feels a stab of pity for his dead, younger self, stuck here in this apartment after having died so horribly. He can’t even begin to imagine being stuck in this apartment he’s come to hate so much for the rest of his life.

“Eh, I’m over it,” the ghost huffs, and then falls backwards slowly to lay on his back on the carpet, letting the sword fall completely from his hand. Dave can’t remember a time he was ever so comfortable in this apartment. He wonders how this ghost feels about all that.

“Uh, so about our Bro,” Dave says awkwardly.

“Oh, that asshole,” the ghost grunts, surprising Dave. He’d expected his younger self to still revere Bro as the hero he’d always thought he was when he was younger. “Yeah, I had a lot of time to think, being trapped here and all,” the ghost says, “And I guess… he wasn’t a good guy.”

“Yeah, he really fukcing wasn’t,” Dave huffs, “I’m… glad you figured that out, kid. There are a lot of our ghosts that still cling onto Bro like he’s some sorta fucking hero.”

“Yeah, I know,” dead Dave grunts, “I’ve tried to speak to them when they come around but… it’s not worth it. Not that they come here much.”

“Do you… do you see any of the trolls’ ghosts around here?” Dave asks, having an idea as he feels himself pitying his younger self’s loneliness again.

“Yeah,” the younger Dave nods, “Sometimes. I don’t know them much.”

“There’s this one troll, Karkat,” Dave says, “We used to think he was an asshole, but… you gotta get to know him, or one version of him, if you can. Find yourself a Karkat. Trust me.”

“Angry little one with small horns?” he guesses, “I’ve seen him before.”

“Yeah, you gotta try and get to know him,” Dave says, “He’s… one of the best friends I’ve made on the meteor.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Dave says, “You’d be good friends, I think.” 

“Maybe,” the dead Dave shrugs, “If anyone ever fucking came here.”

“Promise me you’ll do it if you can?” Dave asks

The ghost looks up slowly, and makes eye contact with Dave through both pairs of their shades. “Alright, I’ll try,” he says, “If I ever find a way out of this apartment.”

“You can’t get out?” Dave asks.

The ghost shakes his head. “Nah, doors don’t work properly. I’m trapped here. Sometimes I think I see Bro’s shadow on the wall. And I haven't seen Cal since I died, but sometimes I think I feel him watching me. I’ve learned to live with it. It’s like… like the bubble wants me to keep living through all this shit again and again… to learn from it or something, I guess.”

Dave stares at his younger self in a little mixture of shock and horror. He can’t even imagine having to be stuck in this place that he hates so much for so long. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly, “That’s -”

“Doesn’t fucking matter, dude,” the ghost grunts.

There’s a scream from a crow sitting on the windowsill, and Dave flinches.

“Crows don’t like you being here,” the ghost grumbles, “You should go.”

“I can’t leave you alone,” Dave sighs. He doesn’t want to leave his younger self to go through all of this anymore.

The ghost shakes his head again. “Nah, dude, go,” he says, “Better for both of us. I’d rather not spend a night with angry crows screaming while I’m trying to sleep, thanks.”

Dave sighs. He doesn’t want to leave, doesn’t want to leave this ghost alone again. But part of him can feel the familiar pressing fear that always comes from being in the apartment starting to creep into the corners of his mind. And looking at his dead self, he has a feeling that maybe that’s why he’s telling him to leave. Maybe he knows.

“Okay, dude,” Dave sighs, and he slowly gets up to his feet. There must be other things to do in this bubble anyway. There’s nothing else here. “Keep trying to get out, dude,” he reminds the ghost as he approaches the window.

“I will,” the ghost says, and then he picks up his sword and holds it out to Dave.

“What?” Dave asks, looking down at it as the ghost offers the hilt of it to him.

“Take it. This bubble’s weird, man, and you’re gonna need some protection. I’ve got so many. Nothing to do but make weird shit here.” 

Dave slowly reaches out and takes hold of the sword, wrapping his fingers around the hilt. It’s been a long time since he held one like this, and he holds it loosely for a second, letting himself become accustomed to the old, familiar weight of it in his hand.

“Thanks, man,” he says, “See you around.”

“Mmh, yeah,” the ghost grunts, “You better go fast, or the crows’ll get you worse than before.”

Dave cracks a small grin and hops up onto the windowsill with a faint huff of laughter. “I’ll try not to let ‘em catch me,” he says, putting the sword away in his sylladex, and then he flies out of the window, turning onde to wave goodbye to the ghost before he starts to fly away through the circling murder of crows.He won’t admit it to himself, but there are tears on his cheeks as he leaves his lonely, dead self behind.

The crows chase him a short while until he’s far enough away from the apartment that they no longer deem him a threat, and then they circle back around and return to their perches on the roof and window sills of the apartment building. Dave watches over his shoulder until he’s sure they’re behind him, and then turns and continues to fly off. He can’t help glancing back a few times though. As many times as he’s visited his old apartment in dream bubbles, the experience never gets any more normal. There’s such a weird mix of memories there that the place always leaves a strange feeling lingering over him. But, after a few moments, when he glances over his shoulder again, the building is gone. It’s not too far in the distance for him to see, it’s just gone, vanished into thin air. He stares blankly at the space left behind for a moment. Part of him already misses it, can feel the yearning for some old life he never got to have, but he shakes it off after a moment, and turns instead to float himself down to the ground and land gently amongst the tangled roots of the trees.

Down on the forest floor it’s cooler, shaded by the leaves overhead, and Dave lets out a sigh of relief as he finds himself a little sheltered from the bright sun. The forest all around looks the same, and, with no particular destination in sight, Dave begins to wander slowly around. He kicks at loose mud and sticks on the ground as he walks, hands in his pockets with his head down, sinking deeper into his own thoughts as he walks.

So lost is he in thinking about his earlier conversation with Rose that Dave almost jumps out of his skin when he hears a small noise from nearby. He looks up, instantly pulling his hands from his pockets and grabbing hold of the sword, and sees, ahead of him and a little while away, the back of some person turned away from him.

“Another ghost?” Dave grumbles, stowing the sword away again as he decides there's no threat, “Fine, whatever.” And he continues on towards the person.

As he gets closer, he recognises the silhouette of a person. It’s Karkat. Or some version of Karkat. Dave pauses in his journey and takes a breath. Out of all the ghosts he’s come across in all these bubbles, the dead Karkat’s are always the hardest to deal with. He’s got no idea why, but seeing the blank eyes of the troll that’s quickly become his closest friend always hits him harder than the sight of his other friend’s ghosts do. Still, there’s no avoiding it, he supposes, and all he allows himself to focus on is that his version of Karkat is still alive, and out there somewhere. That he’ll see him alive again soon.

“Karkat!” He calls as he approaches. The ghost turns towards him slowly, and instantly Dave feels his heart skip a few beats, and a wave of nausea sweeps over him.

The ghost tips it’s head to one side, blank eyes boring into his, and stays exactly where he is. It’s not, for once, the ghost’s eyes that make Dave shudder. Instead, it’s the blood. There’s blood everywhere: creeping slowly down the side of his face from a wound on his head; drying on his clothes; and trickling slowly out of one corner of his mouth. Dave takes a few stumbling steps backwards and clasps a hand over his mouth to stop himself from crying out.

The ghosts are never bloody. It’s an unwritten rule of the dream bubble. Their dead selves are doomed to spend eternity wandering around these bubbles, but at least they’re free from the injuries that caused their death. In fact, aside from the eyes, there’s no way to tell that the ghosts have ever even died. And never before has Dave ever seen a ghost looking like this. It’s as if he’s watching his friend die in front of him. He can smell the sharp, coppery, scent of the blood, and hear drops of it falling heavily down onto the ground. And the ghost just continues to stand and stare.

“Karkat?” Dave says again. His voice is quiet now, cracked and shaking, and he realises his eyes are filling with tears. He’s surprised even at himself for that. This isn’t even his friend, he reminds himself, just a ghost. But the sight of it has caught him off guard and he can feel his heart racing in his chest. Instantly he wants to be as far away from there as possible, but he can’ help taking a few more steps towards the ghost, drawn in by some instinct to save his friend, though deep down he knows it’s hopeless.

The ghost is silent still, and when Dave steps forward he stays still, not even moving his head. Dave wants to reach out, wants to get some sort of reaction from him, but the sight of the blood keeps him away. He can’t bring himself to. And as the pressing fear at the back of his mind gets worse, he knows he has to get out of there.

“I’m sorry, Karkat,” he says softly, before he turns and runs.

He races through the forest for what feels like hours, heart racing the whole time, eyes stinging with tears as the memory of his blood-soaked dead friend continues to flood his mind. For the first time in a while he feels like a scared kid again, desperately running and hiding from the harsh realities of his life. Eventually exhaustion overtakes him, and he stumbles to a halt, finding himself leaning against the trunk of a tree as he takes in a deep, heaving breaths.

“What the fuck?” He pants softly to himself, “What the fuck is this place?”

Gory versions of his friends ghosts, and his own dead selves locked away in towers protected by crows. This whole place feels like a bad dream. And then Dave realises it’s starting to get darker around him, and feels dread settle even further over his mind as he realises what’s going on.

The sun is starting to set.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haven't checked this for errors, i'll do that in the morning. also my motivation said no over the last few days, so this reads badly because it was written in like a thousand different sessions. i'll probably come back to edit this one at some point.


	3. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS for the chapter ahead: more blood and injury, vomiting, sorta kinda mentions of death

Once the sun starts setting, it sets fast. Soon Dave’s cold, even in the protective material of his godtier outfit, and it’s hard to see out in the dark, especially when every part of the forest looks exactly the same to him. Soon, it becomes clear he needs to find somewhere safe to stop for the night, and as the last of the light fades away he sits down slowly at the base of one particular tree, and leans back slowly against the trunk of it. For the first time in a long time he pulls the hood of his outfit up over his head, seeking just a little more warmth as he huddles further back against the tree as the darkness closes in.

With night fully there, there’s no sign of stars or any moon above through the gaps in the trees, and down below it’s almost pitch black. Dave can only see a few metres in front of himself, and the dark shadows of the looming trees seem to stretch further towards him. Dave shudders faintly and turns his eyes downwards, staring at the faint shape of his shoes instead of at the trees.

The dark has always unsettled Dave. In the dark there’s no way for him to see if danger’s lurking anywhere nearby, and it reminds him horribly of the time the apartment electricity used to go out when his Bro forgot to pay the bill. The second that thought gets into his head, though, he pushes it away. He can’t think about his Bro, not right now. There’s no worse place to have a panic attack than alone in a forest at night, surely.

So he sits there, trying to keep his mind free of worry as much as possible, for what feels like hours, and probably is. The whole time there’s anxiety eating away at his mind, and Dave digs his fingernails slowly into the plush material of his cape, trying to take out some of the worry on the material. Soon, the panic gets exhausting, and he can feel his eyelids starting to droop, his vision going fuzzy. He doesn’t want to fall asleep. He’s more scared of falling asleep than he is of whatever might lie in the darkness. But eventually the exhaustion presses in, and he feels himself start to drift off.

*****

Dave wakes up stiff and cramped in a strange position, still leaning back against that tree trunk. His shades have slipped down his nose at some point during the night, and for a moment bright light hits his sensitive eyes. He winces, and pushes them back up, blinking a few times as the usual dark shield falls over them, and then sits further up slowly. For a moment he’s confused as to why he’s waking up on the floor of a forest, half slumped against a tree, but then everything comes back to him, and he sighs slowly. Another day in the bubble, then. He’d hoped to wake back up on the meteor, but apparently Vriska was right, and this one seems to be lasting a while.

There’s still nothing around, nothing to tell him exactly what he should be doing here in this bubble, and already he’s guessing this is going to be just another day of pointless wandering. Somehow, though, that sounds better than just sitting around here alone in the middle of nowhere, and so Dave gets up to his feet, stretching out his arms. His elbows click faintly as he does it, and he smiles faintly to himself as he finds himself expecting to hear Karkat shouting at him about ‘how fucking gross that is Strider’. When he finds himself smiling at that, though, he feels a little stupid, and puts back on his usual straight face as he brushes dirt from his clothes and then returns to his usual aimless wandering, expecting more long hours of nothing but stretching woodland.

It doesn’t take long for Dave to actually stumble across something though.But instantly he wishes he hadn’t.

After only ten minutes of wandering, he starts to hear the distant sound of running water, and soon it leads him to a small stream. He remembers learning somewhere that following a river is a good way to keep from getting lost, and so for a while he strolls along it's banks, appreciating the sound of the water rippling over it;s rocky bed. Soon, though, he spots something laying half in the stream, some weird shapeless bundle, and comes to a halt for a moment.

“What the fuck?” Dave grumbles softly to himself, heading closer to the thing in the water. As he gets there, he feels a wave of nausea rush over him, mouth filling with saliva, as he realises he’s looking at the shape of a person laying there. And the sweater’s too familiar for him to not recognise the person, even laying there half-covered by water. Dave steps down the edge towards the river, grimacing as he feels moisture start to seep into the front of his shoes, and crouches. Part of him knows he should just turn and leave, ignore this completely, but another part of him can’t help it. He’s just too curious.. He just wants to know what’s going on with this bubble. So, with his teeth clenched firmly together, he reaches out one hand and pokes slowly at the body there. When there’s no movement, he shoves a little harder, and this time the person shifts. The water propels the body over a little, and rolls over on its back. Dave heaves at the sight that’s left uncovered, and leans sideways, vomiting onto the rocks beside him. He raises his hands to tug at his hair anxiously, slowly sliding his eyes sideways, unable to stop himself from looking again.

It’s Karkat, or another of Karkat’s ghosts or something. Dave had known to expect that before he even moved the body. But what he wasn’t quite expecting was the blood pouring from the ghost’s mouth, or the dead blank eyes staring, unmoving, at him. There are gashes through the sweater that Karkat loves so much, tearing right through the cancer symbol on the front, torn grey skin peaking through, blood polling around deep injuries.

“Ah, fuck,” Dave groans, swallowing thickly to stop himself from heaving again. “It’s not him, it’s not him. Fuck. It’s not. It’s just… just another shitty dream trick. Fucking… nightmare shit.”

He raises a trembling hand to wipe his mouth, and then presses his sleeve gently to his forehead, wiping away beads of sweat glistening there. After a second he tears his eyes away from the ghost and stumbles up to his feet, unable to look anymore, and starts to stagger away. His head’s a little light, vision blurry, and after a few moments Dave has to stop to lean against a tree before he collapses. His mouth’s still too watery, and Dave swallows a few more times. He needs water, something to clear his mouth and clear his head too, but the only water’s in the stream, and the thought of approaching it again turns his stomach. Even so, he can’t help glancing back towards it now that he’s away from the body, and he gags again as he sees that the water's starting to turn red, that bright cherry red that Karkat's so ashamed of. And that's when he decides to stop caring about how much his head’s swimming, and he turns and starts to run as fast he can.

Dave runs for as long as he can until his legs start to burn in agony. The only thing he can think as he runs is how much he hates this bubble. All he wants is to wake back up on the meteor and watch another terrible movie with Karkat and forget all of this ever happened. Already the comfort and familiarity of those nights spent curled together on the meteor's shitty couch feel distant and alien. Eventually, he breaks through a line of trees and back out into the empty field he found himself in before, and he staggers, before collapsing down onto his knees. There are tears running down his face, he realises, and he pushes his shades up into his hair before wiping at his face angrily.

“Just a ghost,” he reminds himself again. The real Karkat’s still out there, somewhere else in this bubble, and he’ll see him again soon, he knows. But still, the image of his friend laying half-dead and bloody in a river stays stuck in his mind, and the fear of one day losing Karkat is suddenly fresh in his mind again. As much as he tries to ignore it, the worry about losing Karkat is always there. He’s never felt this close to anyone before, and the worry that this game will take Karkat from him one day is something he constantly tries to not think about.

Again he wipes the last tears from his face, and then gets back up to his feet, clearing his throat roughly. “You’re fine,” he tells himself, “You’re fine, chill, cool as a cucumber. You’re a Strider. Strider’s don’t cry.” The sentiment’s one of his Bro’s old sayings, and the realisation that somehow he’s starting to think like his brother makes him feel sick all over again.

“Fuck this bubble,” Dave mutters to himself, hands clenched by his sides, and then he starts to walk numbly out into the centre of that wide field.

Dave wanders until his mind is devoid of all thoughts, and the last waves of panic are finally ebbing away from his mind. He’s not sure how long this bubble is going to last for, and he can’t quite ignore the fear that he could be stuck in this nightmare for a long time. He’s trying not to think of it though, instead distracting himself by humming a tune to a new rap he’s been working on for a while. Vaguely, he remembers Karkat sitting by his side ash e worked out the last few notes of the tune, flicking slowly through the pages of one of his old battered romance novels and occasionally snarking a few insults at Dave. He smiles softly to himself at the memory. Karkat’s still out there somewhere, and when they’re finally reunited again Dave’s going to make sure to appreciate his company just a little more than usual. And maybe… just maybe… tell him how much he means to him. If he ever gets the confidence.

After a while of walking he finds that the landscape becomes a little hillier, and he climbs up and down each one at the same speed, never stopping to look at anything around him.There’s nothing but grass around anyway, and in the distance another forest slowly getting closer.

He’s just reaching the bottom of one hill when he hears it. Distantly, a voice shouts, “Dave!”

Dave turns, and looks up just in time to see a figure running down the hill towards him. He recognises Karkat instantly, but for a moment he can’t tell if it’s a ghost or not. But then Karkat’s reaching him and he sees yellow eyes blinking at him, and he almost melts in relief. For a second he almost finds himself running up towards the troll, and in his mind he pictures himself just scooping the troll up into a hug and never letting go.He restrains himself though, standing still in place as he watches the troll approach.

“I’ve been chasing you for fucking ages, asshole! Didn’t you hear me?” The troll pants breathlessly as he finally reaches Dave. Dave almost cries in relief hearing his voice.

“Karkat! Hey!” He breathes out, keeping his voice as neutral as possible “Nice to see you alive, dude.”

“Ugh, you’ve been seeing those guys too?” Karkat grunts, crossing his arms across his chest tightly, “Fucking thousands of them, aren’t there?”

“Uh, yeah,” Dave says awkwardly, trying not to remember what he saw earlier but unable to not mention it, “Have you seen the ones with all the…”

“The blood? Yeah,” Karkat huffs, “Can we not talk about that? Please?”

For a second Dave’s almost confused, but then he remembers Karkat’s whole blood problem, and shrugs. “Yeah sure, dude, whatever,” Dave says, almost glad he doesn’t have to speak about it, “I’ve told you before, I don’t give a shit what colour your blood is.”

“Right,” Karkat sighs, “But trolls do.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Dave assures him, “I get it. So have you actually seen anything interesting ‘round here?”

“No,” Karkat huffs, “Just fucking… trees ‘n shit. I’ve never seen anywhere like this before.”

“Think it’s Earth,” Dave huffs, “Pretty boring, apart from the… ghosts.”

“Yeah, it’s shit,” Karkat agrees, and then there’s silence between them for a few moments. For a moment Dave wants to hug him or something, but instead he shoves his hands into his pockets and kicks at a loose clump of dirt on the ground, looking down so he doesn't have to stare at Karkat any longer. When did talking get so uncomfortable for the two of them again? Dave knows it’s his fault. He always lets his feelings get in the way.

“So,” Karkat says slowly after a moment, “We can stick together now, right?” He sounds hopeful, but a little meek, too. Scared, almost. Dave looks up and sees Karkat won’t make eye contact with him either. This dream bubble is unsettling Karkat too, he realises.

“Yeah, course,” Dave says with a small shrug, “Ain’t nothing better to do round here than hang with my best bro.”

“That’s Egbert,” Karkat reminds him, shrinking even further into his sweater, as impossible as that seems.

“Nah,” Dave says, “Got room in my life for two best buds. And I only see one of ‘em around here right now.” He turns to drape an arm loosely around the troll’s shoulders, hoping the gesture comes across as casually as he tries to make it, and grins over at him. “C’mon, let’s go see if there’s actually any fucking purpose to this bubble.”

Karkat smiles back at him weakly. “Okay,” he says, and when they start to walk off in one random direction neither of them mentions the fact that Dave’s arm stays around Karkat.

For a moment they’re just walking again, but Dave finds it’s not so mind-numbingly boring with Karkat by his side, even when they’re both just wandering along in silence.

“Where are we even going, idiot?” Karkat asks after about ten minutes.

Dave shrugs. “Thought we’d just check out this cool as fuck forest in the distance.”

“Ugh, I hate the forests,” Karkat groans, “But I guess there’ nothing fucking else around.”

Dave looks over at him and smiles faintly when Karkat’s not watching. “Yeah, I know,” he says, “This place sucks.”

“Sure does,” Karkat says with a nod, and then they’re quiet again for a while.

Eventually they duck into the shade of the trees, and Dave lets out a sigh of relief when the sun isn’t beating down onto the top of his head anymore. He looks over again, and sees Karkat picking slightly at his sweater nervously with the hand that isn’t currently crushed against Dave’s side.

“No ghosts here yet,” Dave tells him, and Karkat looks up and smiles weakly at him.

“Yeah,” he says, “Not yet.”

After a while of more walking, Dave looks up and spots something familiar in a tree above. Apples. Bright red and shining, hanging heavily from branches. Dave grins.

“Have you eaten anything since we got here?” Dave asks.

“No,” Karkat says.

“Yeah, we neither,” Dave says, and then flies up off of the ground and into the branches of the tree above.

“Where are you going, asshole?” He hears called from the ground below, and he chuckles softly to himself as he plucks a few apples from their branches.

Karkat’s standing there, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed curiously as he stares upwards, when Dave flies back down towards him. Still floating a few feet in the air, he tosses one apple over towards Karkat. The troll acts quickly on instinct, catching the apple before it hits him directly in the face, and then glowers at Dave.

“What the fuck is this?” Karkat asks, turning the fruit over in his hands a few times and poking at it with one claw.

“Apple,” Dave says, still floating in the air. He crosses his legs so he’s sat in mid-air, and then takes a bite out of it.

“Like… the shitty apple juice you’re always drinking?” Karkat asks slowly, raising the apple closer to his face and squinting at it.

“Yeah,” Dave says, “It’s just a fruit, Karkat. Trust me. Eat it.”

The troll glares at him for a few more moments, and then raises the fruit and sinks his fangs slowly into it, taking a small bite. Dave flips in mid air, chewing on another bite of apple as he does so, waiting for Karkat’s verdict.

“Ya like it?” Dave asks, mouth still half full.

“You’re gross,” Karkat says, screwing his face up again, but then he nods slowly. “Yeah, it’s good,” he says, and takes another, bigger bite. His eyes light up, and Dave smiles faintly at the sight.

Dave laughs slightly, and then slowly floats downwards until his feet gently hit the ground. He takes a last few bites of his apple, and then tosses the core over his shoulder to the forest floor. By the time he turns back, Karkat’s eating the core of his own apple. Dave just shrugs, screwing his face up slightly at him.

“C’mon, you weirdo,” Dave laughs, “Keep walking a bit. There’s gotta be something interesting around here.”

“More ghosts probably,” Karkat grunts, but he nods and follows Dave when he starts to stroll off again.

After only a few seconds, though, he spots a tree with nicely ordered branches, and smirks at the sight as he has a thought. 

“Watch this,” Dave grins, and then sprints away from Karkat towards the tree.

“What the fuck?” Karkat shouts, following a little more slowly after him and watching as Dave jumps up onto the lowest branch of the tree and then starts to haul himself further upwards into the tree, soon disappearing amongst the leaves.

“You think you’re so cool, huh?” The troll calls from on the ground, and Dave laughs loudly, swinging upside down from one branch to smirk at Karkat from above, godtier powers keeping him unafraid of falling. “Yeah, two can play at that game,” Karkat grins, and then he’s climbing up after Dave.

“Heh,” Dave smirks, “Think you can beat me?” And then he’s climbing further upwards. Karkat scrambles upwards after him, laughing loudly, a lot faster at climbing than Dave, using his claws to dig into the bark. “I’d say that’s cheating,” Dave says as Karkat gets up to the same level as him, “Using your freaky troll shit.”

“Rude,” Karkat says, “And you literally used your godtier shit to float between two branches just a minute ago. Yeah, I saw you, idiot.”

Dave laughs at him, and then the two both reach one branch and seat themselves carefully on it.

“You know,” Dave says slowly, “this dream bubble’s kinda shitty.”

“You don’t say,” Karkat scoffs.

“Yeah, but I mean, it doesn’t have to be. I know it’s full of ghosts and shit but… we could enjoy it a little, maybe,” Dave says, all his pasts hatred for the place suddenly seeming to have seeped away now Karkat's back by his side again, “We’re stuck here for a while apparently. Might as well have a laugh with it. Bet I can make it fun.”

“Oh yeah?” Karkat says, turning to Dave with a slight glint in his eyes, “Alright, you’ve got yourself a bet, Strider.”

Dave grins, and reaches over to shove Karkat’s shoulder gently. “You’re on,” he grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been writing this literally since the day i posted the last chapter, but very single time i tried to finish it, someone called me out of my room either to do work or for 'family bonding time' (no, it's worse than it sounds). Anyways i have literally almost all of this planned apart from the next chapter but i'm so excited to write the end so i promise to finally not ditch a fic half way through, i'm gonna finish this one i promise.


	4. Calm

They come across a river eventually. It’s wider than the one before, and with no ghosts in sight, and so Dave drops down to his knees and starts to scoop water up in his cupped hands to drink it. Beside him, Karkat does the same, dipping his hands into the water and swirling his claws around in it for a moment before scooping a few handfuls up to drink them. The water’s cold and fresh, and Dave barely bothers to do anything about the water that runs down his chin and soaks his shirt below.

“Urgh, I needed that,” Dave murmurs appreciatively, scooping up more water to splash it over his face. Karkat hums in agreement, still ducked down to drink more water. It’s still uncomfortably hot, even under the shade of the trees, and so Dave lets another few handfuls of water fall right over his head, dripping down off of his hair onto his face and running over the lenses of his shades.

Karkat looks up, and shakes his head in amusement. “You’re an idiot,” he tells him. 

“Oh really?” Dave asks, leaning down to scoop up another handful of water. He holds it for a second, and Karkat curiously watches as the water starts to run through Dave’s fingers and onto the ground below, and then Dave flicks his hand, splattering what’s left of the water straight across Karkat’s face. The troll lets out a surprised chirping noise, and Dave lets out a loud roaring laugh that’s cut off only a second later when Karkat throws a handful of water of his own back at Dave.

It takes less than a few seconds for a water fight to break out, and soon the two are splashing water up from the river at each in fervour, shouting and laughing amongst themselves. At one point Karkat puts a hand out and shoves Dave in the shoulder to push him away a little, and Dave stumbles backwards, losing his footing and falling down into the shallow water at the edge of the river. For a second Karkat’s silent, biting his lip a little nervously like he thinks he’s done something wrong. Then Dave lets out a small laugh, and reaches out, grabbing the edge of Karkat’s sweater and tugging it so the troll also stumbles into the water with him.

“Agh, you asshole!” Karkat shrieks, though he makes no attempt to stand up from the water, “I don’t have magical self-drying pajamas like you, Strider.”

“Come on Karkles, it’s fun,” Dave pleads with a smirk, unclipping the cape from around his shoulder and tossing it into the bank of the river and removing his shades to place them on top of the cape, before he turns and wades further into the river, until he’s up to past his waist in the water.

“Are all humans like this, or did I just happen to get saddled with the worst one?” Karkat asks, now standing on the edge of the river with his arms crossed, watching Dave curiously.

“You really never been swimming?” Dave calls back over his shoulder, lowering himself down to sit in the water, “It’s fun.”

“I disagree,” Karkat grumbles, but a moment later Dave hears the distant sound of feet splashing through the water, and then Karkat’s sitting down slowly by his side. The troll winces as the water hits his chest, and then turns to scowl at Dave.

“Happy now?” Karkat asks, and Dave grins.

“You know it, Kitkat.”

“How many stupid fucking nicknames have you got for me?” Karkat asks.

“Many,” Dave tells him, “More than you know.” And then he sends another handful of water flying at Karkat’s face and the troll throws himself forwards to try and wrestle Dave to push him under the water.

“Alright, bro, don’t gotta fucking drown me,” Dave gasps after a few seconds, flicking water back at Karkat one finally time before raising a hand to wipe some water from his face.

“You’re infuriating,” Karkat tells him with a soft laugh. Now they’re both just half sat in the water, face to face, a little too close. Dave stares at Karkat for a second, noting the slight blush of bright red that spreads out over Karkat’s cheeks and over the bridge of his nose, watching as the trolls eyes move to track his own gaze, and then he clears his throat awkwardly and stands up, watching as water starts to rain down from where it’s soaked into his clothes.

“Come on,” Dave says quietly, “Don’t want you freezing to death in here.”

Karkat nods and follows after him, and the two climb out and onto the river bank. Dave’s cape is already dry, and from the moment he steps out of the water his other clothes start to instantly dry too. Karkat, meanwhile, just pulls off his soaking wet sweater and ties it around his waist.

“Huh, didn’t know you wore a shirt under that thing,” Dave says, carefully using a sleeve to wipe a few drops of water from his shades before placing them back on his face.

“Yeah, of course I’m not wearing a fucking sweater on its own,” Karkat says, “Wool’s fucking itchy.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dave says, “That’s why I always thought you were just a bit weird.”

Karkat scoffs a little, and then shakes himself, sending water flying everywhere from his hair and clothes. Dave opens his mouth, but Karkat holds up a hand and sends a glare in his direction before he can speak. “Don’t,” Karkat says, “Call me a fucking barkbeast, or I will take a sickle and -”

“Please don’t finish that sentence,” Dave cuts him off, and Karkat laughs, flicking a few drops of water from his hand at the back of Dave’s head.”So, you reckon we should just keep the following the river?” He asks.

Karkat shrugs. “Sure,” he says, “Isn’t anything better to do.”

And so once again they’re walking. Back out of the water, it’s uncomfortably hot again, and Dave rolls his sleeves up as they walk before shoving his hands back into his pockets, almost wishing the magic of his clothes hadn’t made them dry so fast.

“What do you reckon’s going on in this bubble?” Dave asks after a while,”I mean… usually these things aren’t so big, or empty, or completely useless.”

“No idea,” Karkat sighs, “It’s probably just some big mistake or something. This bubble probably got made wrong or something.”

“Yeah,” Dave says with a shrug, “Guess you’re right. You seen any of the others?”

“No,” Karkat says, “It’s lucky enough I stumbled across you.”

Dave looks over at the troll beside him, and smiles faintly. Karkat’s right. Dave’s more than a little glad that he’s not alone here anymore.

“Yeah,” Dave nods, “Better to not be alone here, huh?”

Karkat nods in agreement, and again they fall again into a silence broken seconds later by Karkat letting out a small excited shout and then crouching down next to a tree to start pulling something up.

“What the fuck?” Dave ask, watching as Karkat starts to wrap whatever he's harvesting up in his now dry sweater carefully.

“Mushrooms,” Karkat tells him, and Dave pulls a face. “Sorry, do you want to starve?” Karkat asks, “Because I don’t see anything else around here to eat.”

They’re probably poisonous,” Dave says.

Karkat glares. “Do you think I’d be picking them if I wasn’t entirely sure they were safe?” He asks, “Trust me, I know this shit. These things used to grow around Gamzee’s hive.”

“Not exactly winning my confidence there,” Dave says.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Right,” Dave says, and leaves Karkat to it for a moment. As he stands and waits, he shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot, baking in the heat from the sun. “This shit’s so hot,” he groans, picking at the material of his clothes which always clings just a little too close to his skin.

“You think that’s bad?” Karkat scoffs, finishing picking the mushrooms and putting the bundle away in his sylladex, “I’m wearing all black, I’m fucking melting. If you weren’t here I’d have taken this shirt off an hour ago.”

Dave pretends that the though of Karkat shirtless doesn’t making him blush, because the thought of acknowledging that it does makes him feel incredibly stupid. “Have I not earned the honour of seeing your weird alien skin?” Is what he says instead.

“You have not,” Karkat replies, “I don’t want you fucking gawping at me.”

“Like I’d want to look at you,” Dave retorts back a little too quickly, and for a second he thinks he sees some strange emotion flicker across Karkat’s face. But then the troll just huffs and sticks a middle finger up at him.

Dave shakes his head, and then strays back to the river again. “Fine, I need another fucking drink,” he huffs, and falls down onto his knees by the water while Karkat stays further up the bank, waiting.

Dave plunges his hands down into the water and raises them upwards to drink again. As he looks back down, the ripples in the water slowly clear, and as it does so he catches sight of his own reflection for a second. Under his feet, a few stones roll into the water, sending a few ripples spreading outwards again, and amongst the movement he sees his own face distort. His face elongates, shades shifting shape, and he seems to grow tireder. The face there is all too familiar, and Dave feels dread sink to the pit of his stomach. His Bro.

“Fuck!” He shouts, getting up to his feet and then stumbling backwards.

“What now?” Karkat calls a little exasperatedly, “Another fucking ghost?”

“No, just… don’t worry,” Dave sighs, striding back up the bank to , “Lets just go, please.”

Karkat steps past him to peer down into the water curiously, and then back up at Dave. “Seriousl;y, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I said I’m fine,” Dave grunts, “Let’s keep walking.”

Karkat stares at him for a few seconds, and then nods. “Alright,” he sighs, “Let’s keep going.”

As they continue to walk onwards, Karkat tries to bring it up a few times, trying to work out what;’s going on, but Dave shrugs off each question. He’s not ready to talk about any of his problems with his Bro just yet. He’s told Rose a few, and he’s pretty sure Karkat knows a few details here and there, but he’s just not ready to talk about all of it yet. And bringing up the fact he just watched his own reflection morph into his Bro’s face is sure to bring up that subject of conversation.

Any thought of his own problems are brought to a halt when both of them spot, ahead of them in the forest, the back of yet another Karkat ghost,

“Dave,” Karkat says slowly, both of them stopping walking at the exact same time, “Can we… just not? Please. Can we go another way round?”

Dave doesn’t even hesitate to nod quickly and turn straight back around. He’s not sure he can deal with another Karkat ghost today either. “Yeah, let;’s go another way,” he says, and without thinking he reaches out and grabs onto Karkats’s sleeve, and then the two start running.

After a while of aimless running, Karkat starts to laugh a little, breathless and slightly hysterical. Dave laughs back a little, and the two stumble to a halt. Dave’s still holding onto Karkat’s sleeve, and he lets go quickly as he realises what he’s doing. Karkat’s too distracted, laughing in little wheezes.

“Gog, this place is crazy,” Karkat sighs once he’s calmed himself down, “Fuck.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dave says, raising an arm to wipe his forehead with the back of one hand.

Karkat drops down to the floor slowly, seating himself on the grass, and Dave looks around slowly as he does so. They’ve appeared in a small clearing amongst the forest, with a flat area of grass, and a few patches of wildflowers. It’s quite serene, and Dave finds it a little more of an enjoyable place to be than the rest of the forest has been so far.

“I’m tired of all this fucking walking around,” Karkat sighs, “What else is there to discover apart from more fucking ghosts?”

Dave sits down slowly beside him, humming in agreement, and then sprawls out backwards on the grass. “Why don’t we just fucking stay here for a while?” Dave suggests, “It’s nice, peaceful, no ghosts in sight.”

Karkat lowers himself backwards to lay beside Dave, tilting his head back to look up at the sky above. “Sure,” he says, “Sounds good to me.”

Dave tilts his head sideways, using Karkat’s moment of distraction by the clouds above to stare at him, and smiles faintly to himself as he sees the way Karkat’s eyes flicker around to follow the movements of a bird overhead. There’s no one else he’d rather be stuck in this bubble with, he realises. He settles his head backwards onto the grass with a small peaceful sigh, and closes his eyes, allowing himself to rest just for a while.

*****

Dave ends up drifting off a little, and when he slowly comes back to consciousness he finds that Karkat is also fast asleep, and the sky seems to be dimming. He elbows Karkat gently in the side, laughing as the troll snarls angrily at him, and then sits up.

“Is the sky getting a little darker, or is it just me?” He asks once Karkat’s fully awake.

“Yeah it is,” Karkat huffs, “Fucking great. Days go so quickly here. Is that an Earth thing?”

Dave shrugs. “Maybe. Days were probably longer on Alternia. We should just stay here for tonight.”

Karkat nods. “I know how to make a fire,” he says, “It got cold last night.”

“Why do you know how to do that?” Dave asks, raising an eyebrow.

Karkat shrugs. “My lusus taught me some survival stuff,” he says “In case anything ever happened to him, or to me.”

“Oh,” Dave says. There’s always this slight awkwardness between the two of them when either of their childhoods are brought up. There’s an unwritten rule between the two of them that they don’t make each other talk about it, but Dave always finds he wishes he knew a little more about how to comfort Karkat over his painful memories. After all, the troll’s always been there for him when he’s worrying about 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Karkat grunts, “Help me find shit to burn.”

“Right,” Dave nods.

The two wander together back towards out of the clearing and into the forest, and start searching around for any sticks that Karkat deems appropriate enough to make a fire from. Eventually the troll disappears from Dave’s side, and when Dave turns back around and heads back into the little clearing, Karkat’s already crouched over a stacks of sticks, dragging his claws back and forth over a rock.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Daev asks, dropping the sticks he’s collected down next to the fire that Karkat’s constructing.

Karkat looks up at him and glowers, before going back to scraping his claws on the rock. Dave winces at the sound. After a few seconds a shower of sparks rains down onto the pile of rocks, and within a few moments a couple of small flames are flickering upwards.

“Holy shit, you actually did it,” Dave says, “Nice job.”

Karkat looks up again, but this time he grins a little wonkily at Dave, crooked fangs sticking out over his upper lip in a way that’s just a little too adorable for Dave to handle. He glances away and busies himself sitting down on the opposite side of the fire to Karkat instead as the troll works to build the fire up more. After a moment, Karkat pulls out the small bundle of mushrooms he collected earlier, and starts spearing them onto sticks.

“Are you sure these aren’t gonna kill us?” Dave checks.

Karkat’s usual scowl returns. “I think we’ve established by now that I fucking know survival shit,” he says, and then passes a stick of mushrooms over to Dave, “Just make sure they get cooked properly.”

“Right,” Dave says, leaning forwards to hold the mushrooms into the top of the flame. Karkat smiles a little at him, then starts to cook his own mushrooms, turning his gaze onto the fire.

The forest is even more silent than before now that night has started to fall. The only sound is Dave humming very faintly to himself, and the crackling of the fire as it sends sparks spiralling upwards into the darkening sky. Dave looks back up after a moment, watching as the flickering fire light illuminates Karkat’s skin, and lights up his eyes, pinpointing the parts where the iris is slowly turning red. As he watches, the troll removes the food he’s cooking from the fire, and raises the stick up, tearing straight into the hot mushrooms with his fangs. For a second his tongue darts out of his mouth, catching a piece of falling mushroom, and Dave swallows thickly, looking away. His own mushrooms, he realises, are burning, and so he pulls them from the fire, shaking them a little to extinguish a few flames, and then looks at them closely, looking at the slightly charred mushrooms.

“Should probably wait a second,” Karkat grunts, “Your weak human mouth can’t handle hot things, right?”

“Yeah,” Dave says a little distractedly, “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a mushroom before. Except on pizza, maybe.”

Karkat raises an eyebrow curiously at him. “Right,” he says, before pulling another piece of mushroom off and popping it in his mouth.

Dave looks back down at his own food and then pulls one mushroom from the stick, slowly taking a bite and chewing cautiously. He’s not sure he quite trusts Karkat’s ability to judge what food is safe for human consumption. There’s no way food poisoning can be either a just or heroic death, though, so he’s sure it’s fine.

He’s a little surprised, actually, to find that, even through the burnt exterior, the mushrooms taste pretty good. “Hey, that;’s pretty good, Kat,” Dave says, and watches Karkat smile a little bashfully.

“Told you,” he says, voice muffled as he ducks his head down. Dave just shakes his head amusedly at him and continues eating the food.

Later, once the sun’s fully set, they pile more sticks onto the fire, and slowly Dave shuffles around a little so the two can huddle closer together as it starts to get cold. It’s just the same as the night’s they’ve ended up sitting together watching movies on the meteor, but something about the strange new circumstances has made Dave feel a little more awkward. Even when Karkat’s tucked right up against his side as the darkest of the night falls, Dave keeps his head turned just slightly the other way, trying his hardest to avoid making uncomfortable eye contact.

Eventually, though, Karkat shifts a little and takes hold of the bottom of Dave’s cloak, lifting it around his shoulders before tucking himself back against Dave’s side.

“Dave looks over at him and raises an eyebrow above his shades. “Cold?” He asks.

“Mmh,” Karkat nods, huddling further into Dave’s cape and Dave reluctantly accepts his fate, and lifts an arm from his side to wrap it around Karkat’s shoulders.The troll drops his head sideways onto Dave’s shoulder, and for a long time they’re silent.

“So,” Dave says eventually after a while, feeling that one of them needs to break the awkward silence between the two, “Have I managed to make this dream bubble a little more fun for you yet?”

For a moment he feels Karkat’s head move against his shoulder as if he’s going to nod, but then the troll looks up at him and smirks faintly. “Better luck next time,” he tells him, and Dave looks over to him, watching as the troll continues to grin cheekily at him.

Dave shoves Karkat shoulder playfully, sending him sprawling across the grass. “Asshole,” he laughs softly, and laying on his back on the grass, Karkat lets out a loud laugh of his own. Their laughter mingles with the sound of the fire, spiralling upwards into the quiet night sky, and for a moment Dave feels a sense of peace he hasn’t in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this thing might actually end up being shorter than i expected to, so that's a fun surprise. i think there's maybe three chapters left? or possibly four. anyways i'm gonna try and get chapters up every few days now that i know exactly what happens in each one, but if i forget an upload for like a week, it's because online classes are kicking my ass.  
> (again i haven't gotten around to fully checking this for every typo so sorry if there's a lot)


	5. Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS for the chapter ahead: blood again, a dead body, mentions of death and violence. also a mention of food and hunger so if that's a trigger for you please go carefully

Dave wakes up sprawled on his back in the dewy grass, sunlight blinding him with his shades slipped half down his face. He groans to himself, sitting upright and straightening his shades, blinking tiredly as he looks around and remembers where he is.

“Morning,” a voice says, and Dave looks over to see Karkat crouched over by the remains of the fire from the night before, poking at the pile of ash with a stick. His black hair’s sticking up in every single direction, and as Dave gets up and strolls over to sit with him he sees Karkat yawn widely with a little squeaking noise, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. Once again Dave’s reminded of just how adorable Karkat is, and he clears his throat a little awkwardly as he flops back down onto the ground beside him.

“We’re still here, then?” Dave asks, looking around at the trees surrounding them.

“Yeah,” Karkat huffs.

“Never thought I’d say it, but I’m missing our cold, empty meteor,” Dave huffs, “What are you doing?”

“Just checking the fire’s fully out,” Karkat says, “Don’t wanna end up setting this place on fire.”

“Yeah,” Dave says, “Can’t make this place any worse, huh?”

Karkat glances over his shoulder at him and grins weakly, wonky teeth sticking out over his bottom lip, and Dave can’t help smiling back. “I don’t think it can get much worse,” Karkat says.

Dave snorts a soft laugh. “That’s gotta be some ominous foreshadowing, dude,” he says.. Karkat reaches over and shoves his shoulder playfully with a laugh of his own, and then leans backwards onto his back in the grass with a tired sigh.

“So, what are we doing today?” Karkat asks, “Wandering aimlessly again or staying here?”

“Well…” Dave says slowly, “As much as I fucking hate wandering around all the time, I’ve eaten a single apple and some mushrooms since we got here, and even though I can’t die of starvation anymore I think maybe we should find some food if we’re gonna be stuck here.”

Karkat sighs deeply. “Yeah, you’re right,” he says, “Let’s go find some fucking food.”

Dave nods, and then gets up to his feet slowly, holding out a hand to help Karkat up. Karkat grabs hold of his hand, and for a second Dave gets completely distracted by the feeling of Karkat’s fingers clutching at his, until eventually the troll gives him a weird look and Dave’s reminded he needs to actually help Karkat up to his feet. When Karkat’s up he lets go of Dave’s hand, and Dave instantly misses the warmth. He wishes he was brave enough to just take hold of Karkat’s hand again, but the fear of losing his entire friendship with Karkat stops him from doing anything, just like it always does.

“Can’t wait for this fucking bubble to be over again,” Karkat grumbles as they start to walk.

“Yeah me too man,” Dave says, “I’d literally rather be watching one of your shit romcoms right now then wandering ‘round this fucking place.”

“They’re not shit,” Karkat grumbles, though it’s more as a rite of passage than an actual argument anymore. Their debates over romcoms have long ago become routine between the two of them.

“Dude, they are so shit,” Dave says with a shake of his head, and out of the corner of his eye he sees Karkat roll his eyes with a badly held back laugh.

“At least they’re not as bad as Egbert’s fucking movies,” Karkat says after a moment.

“Mmh, guess so,” Dave says with a small nod.

For a moment it’s just the two of them walking for a while, with nothing but the sound of Dave humming and birds screeching overhead as it has been for the last two days in the bubble, but then, just as they come to the top of yet another small hill, Dave comes to a stop. For a second he’s sure he feels himself about to fall, like the ground’s sliding out from under his feet, and he stumbles a little, but then there’s nothing again. He stares down at his feet for a while, sure he felt something but not sure exactly what, and then he starts to feel it again.The ground’s slowly starting to shake underneath their feet.

“Dave,” Karkat says slowly, and Dave looks around for a second until he sees Karkat, now half crouched, looking around himself carefully. The tips of his ears are twitching, eyes stretched wide, and his hair’s standing up on end just a little, whole body tense.

“You feel that too?” Dave asks, and Karkat nods silently. He gets up to his feet slowly and makes his way to Dave’s side, and the two stand side by side for a moment, staring off in the direction of the rumbling noise as it seems to get closer and closer. In the distance, Dave sees the tops of trees move, as if swaying in some nonexistent wind, and then slowly they start to topple.

“What the fuck?” Karkat utters, having seen the same thing. Slowly, the trees topple, almost carving a path through the forest that creeps it’s way slowly towards them.

Dave glances down for a second as he feels the ground start to shake, and gulps. When he looks back up, Karkat’s still staring, transfixed, at the trees.

“Karkat,” he says, “Run.” 

“What?”

“Fucking run!” 

For a second Karkat looks like he’s about to protest, but then he glances downwards and sees what Dave’s seen: the ground under their feet is starting to shake even harder, tearing itself apart into small cracks that are gradually widening.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Karkat says, and then he turns on his heels and starts to run. Dave’s instincts are quick, and in less than a second he’s flash stepped around and is racing after Karkat. He pushes his legs as fast as he can, heart racing. He doesn’t know if death’s possible in dream bubbles, for him or for Karkat. All he knows is he doesn’t want either of them falling down into the depths of the earth. So he just keeps running and doesn’t look back, soon picking up the pace until he’s far ahead of Karkat.

Soon the problem becomes clear. Karkat is far slower than Dave, and definitely not going to be able to keep this pace up much longer. Dave himself is tiring too, and he's not sure how long he can keep going. A quick glance behind him tells him that the widening cavern is getting closer and closer to them, and he can feel the ground under his feet starting to give way.

“Fuck,” Dave grunts, looking around for some desperate escape. An idea comes into his mind, and as the chasm gets closer and closer to them Dave knows he’s got to act fast. One look over at the look of absolute terror on Karkat’s face is enough to spur him into action, and he suddenly turns and runs directly sideways, barrelling straight into Karkat, wrapping his arms around the troll as he goes.

“What are you doing you fucking - AHGGHH,” Karkat’s insult is cut off as Dave pushes his feet off of the ground and takes off into the air, holding Karkat tightly to him as he flies up serveral feet above the forest as fast as he can.

“Sorry,” Dave pants breathlessly once they’re hovering in mid air but safe, “It’d have swallowed us otherwise.”

Karkat moves his head to peer over Dave’s shoulder down at the disaster below, and then clutches even tighter at him. “Right, thanks,” he breathes softly.

Dave nods. “Yeah, no problem, man,” he says, “Wasn’t just gonna leave you to get swallowed up by that.” Down below, the sound of the earth tearing apart has faded away, and a look downwards over the top of Karkat’s head shows Dave that the ground has stopped breaking apart. “I’m gonna fly us somewhere safe,” Dave says, “Don’t wiggle around, alright, I don’t wanna drop you.”

“Okay,” Karkat says, voice coming out as no more than a small squeak, nodding his head against Dave’s shoulder. Dave’s heart clenches a little in pity for the troll, but he chooses not to focus much on it, instead looking around for a place in the forest far enough away from the gaping chasm to be safe. He spots a high looking hill without trees on the top, and heads off towards it at speed, wanting to get there as fast as possible before Karkat slips from his already loosening grip.

He lands quickly, and Karkat all but falls from his arms and onto the ground. Dave flops down in exhaustion by Karkat’s side,and lets out a long breath, trying to calm himself down a little, his heart still racing and his breath still caught in his throat.

“What the fuck do you think that was?” Karkat says after a moment, laying down on his back in the grass and looking up at the sky above.

Dave shrugs. “I don’t known anymore man,” he says, “Is this place fucking… broken, something?”

“Maybe,” Karkat says, looking around, “Do you think we should… go and have a look at the… hole, or whatever it is?”

“Why?”

“Well maybe it’s something important,” Karkat says with a shrug, “And there isn’t anything else to do.”

Dave looks back over at Karkat, and shakes his head slowly. “You’re crazy, dude,” he tells him with a soft sigh, “But yeah, alright. Might as well.”

After a few more moments of them both catching their breath, they get up to their feet and start to walk carefully down the hill and back towards the edge of the forest. It doesn’t take long to get to the huge canyon in the ground; the clear path where all the trees have fallen downwards makes it easy to make their way back towards it. When it comes into view, Dave relaises the whole in the ground is far bigger than he’d expected it to be. The ground’s dry and crumbling, and as they approach one edge of it he sees that there’s still earth falling into it from the surrounding land, rolling down the slopes on either side and down into the depths below.

“We shouldn’t get too close to that shit,” Karkat says.

“Yeah, I don’t fancy having to pull your stupid self out of that fucking ditch,” Dave says, taking a few more steps forward. 

As they keep walking towards it, Dave starts to feel hotter, like he’s suddenly got a fever. He looks upwards for a second, and sees a sky cloudier than the previous days, with no explanation for the sudden increase in heat. With a sigh he rolls his sleeves up as much as he can, and, not for the first time, finds himself cursing the fact his godtier outfit is made of such thick material.

“Dude, it is fucking boiling,” he complains as they walk.

“I don’t think it’s the weather,” Karkat says slowly, a few steps ahead of Dave and coming to a stop by the edge of the cavern.

“What d’you mean?” Dave asks.But within a few moments of saying that he’s caught up to Karkat, and as he looks downwards his question is answered.

“Is that… lava?” Dave asks, looking down at the bright red liquid that’s now filling up the massive hole, steaming and bubbling. He could swear the level of it is rising, like more’s being added each second. “It’s so bright though like -”

“Blood,” Karkat says with a gulp, staring down at the unnaturally red lava, “Fuck.”

“Yeah, we shouldn’t have come back here,” Dave says.

“Yup, shit idea,” Karkat agrees, “Time to go?”

“Time to go,” Dave nods, “I think that lava blood shit’s gonna overflow real soon.”

“Right,” Karkat says, and turns to start making his way back from the chasm. Dave goes to follow him, but as he turns his head he sees something out of the corner of his eye, and pauses. Karkat’s still walking away, and so Dave quickly turns his head to get a better look at what he’s spotted. As he confirms what he thinks he’s seeing, he feels a weight settle in the pit of his stomach.

“Karkat!” he calls, “I’ll catch you up in a second, I just gotta check something!”

The troll turns and raises an eyebrow at him from a distance. “What now?”

“Nothing, just wanna check something out, I’ll meet you in a second.”

“Uh, no you will not,” Karkat says, and then there’s the sound of heavy footsteps followed by Karkat appearing by his side, “What the fuck is it now?”

Dave stares at Karkat for a second, sees a stubbornness in his eyes that tells him it isn’t worth fighting, and sighs. “Fine, follow me,” he huffs as he turns and starts to head further down along the edge of the ravine.

A little while along he gets to a better point of view to what he’s spotted, and drops to his knees, crawling a little closer to the edge so he can peer down. There, laying on a ledge halfway down the ravine, is his Bro’s dead body, spread-eagled across the rocks, head at an odd angle, with a sword straight through his chest. Blood’s still pouring steadily from the wound, running off of the edge of the rocky ledge and down into the steaming hot contents of the chasm below.

“Shit,” Karkat says, now crouched beside Dave and looking downwards as well, “That’s your Bro, right?”

“Yeah,” Dave says slowly.He doesn’t want to look anymore, but he can’t help it. “Karks can you just… gimme a minute. Please.”

“Yeah, sure,” Karkat says, and Dave breathes out a small sigh of relief when the troll gets and wanders away by himself without another word.

Once Karkat’s far enough away, and not paying much attention to him, Dave floats up into the air, and then carefully down onto the very edge of the rocky ledge his Bro is laying on. He stands there for a second, observing the dead body there for a while, and then takes a few steps forwards slowly, crouching by his Bro’s side.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Dave says, “Me growing up to be the fighter you always fucking said I could be. Bet you’re proud now, aren’t you? Bet you get prouder and prouder with every fucking scar I gain.” He snarls a little, sneering down at the body, and then rolls his eyes behind the shades. “I will never be like you,” he tells the body, “Never! Do you fucking here me? I will not be the little puppet you wanted me to be. I fucking hate you!” He’s practically shouting by this point, hands curled into fists. In the time he;s had on the meteor to dwell on his childhood (and discuss it with Rose), he’s always longed for a chance to tell his Bro just how much he hates him now. This is probably the best chance he’s ever going to get to do that.

“Dave!” A voice shouts suddenly, Karkat, sounding a little shriller than usual, “Where the fuck did you go?”

He sighs softly, and then looks down at his Bro one last time. “I hope you rot here forever,” he tells him, “I’m so much better without you.” And then he flies up off of the ledge, and back over the lip of the canyon, tumbling onto the dusty ground beside it.

“There you are, you idiot,” Karkat says, “Did you wanna die in there?”

“Yeah, no, I’m sorry,” Dave mutters, sitting up on the floor slowly.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Karkat says, his voice suddenly so much more gentler, crouching in front of him. Dave’s not sure what he means for a second, but then he registers the hot, angry tears racing down his face. He’d barely noticed he was crying before.

“I’m fine,” he says, shaking his head, “I’m fine.”

“Shoosh,” Karkat mutters softly, reaching out gently to pat Dave’s cheek with one hand. For a second Dave leans into the contact, but then Karkat pulls his hand away quickly, face flushed as he realises what he’s done, and when Dave makes eye contact with him, he finds himself blushing too.

“Let’s just get away from here,” Dave says gruffly, getting up to his feet, “As far away from this place as possible.”

Karkat nods and gets up by his side. They both stay silent, but Karkat reaches out and gently rests one hand on Dave’s upper arm, just for a moment, before he picks up the pace to walk a little faster ahead of him. Dave smiles weakly to himself, and reaches up to wipe away the last tear from his face before hurrying after Karkat.

They’ve barely been walking for a few minutes, though, when the ground starts to shake again. They both stop at the same time, and Dave raises his head to watch as the trees directly in front of them start to shake.

“No, no, no, nope,” Karkat mutters, “Not this shit. Not again.”

“It’s okay,” Dave says, “We’ll just fly again.” His hand’s already gripping at the edge of Karkat’s sweater to fly the both of them straight out of there, when suddenly the trees right in front of them part, falling sideways, and something approaches from within the shadows of the forest.

“Oh fuck no!” Karkat shouts no, taking a few stumbling steps backwards, “Oh fuck!”

“What is that?” Dave asks, stepping back along with Karkat and looking up at the huge figure towering over them.

“That,” Karkat says slowly, “is a culling drone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so this chapter was supposed to end with a night time scene (a very good scene i'm very excited about that you'll see in the next chapter) buttt it got to like over 6000 words for this one chapter and it's been too long since i last updated, so i've split it into two parts, this part and the next one which will be up in a few days. i really like this chapter and i'm really hoping you will too. a lot of action in this, and i'm not always great at writing action but i hope it's okay.


	6. Fix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS for the chapter: fighting, violence, injury, blood, mentions of past abuse
> 
> (but also... exciting chapter ahead guys. and it's a long one soooo prepare yourselvess)

“What?” Dave shouts, looking up at the drone now crashing its way towards them, “Why did your planet have these things?”

“No time right now!” Karkat shouts, grabbing onto Dave’s sleeve and dragging him with him as he starts to run in the opposite direction. Dave doesn’t question it, knows to just trust Karkat’s word, and starts racing along by his side as the two run away from the drone. A glance over tells him that Karkat’s scared. More scared than he has been of anything they’ve seen so far. Terrified, even. So he doesn’t bother shouting another word over to Karkat, instead just trusts that if this is scaring Karkat then it must be a threat, and puts all of his energy into running as fast as he possibly can. Karkat’s running even faster than he was before, finally overtaking Dave, and as he passes by Dave he thinks he hears a snarl in Karkat’s throat.

Dave’s starting to tire when he finally glances back over his shoulder, and sees the drone still crashing after them, crushing everything in its path and bringing down the trees around it with its wide shoulders. He shudders slightly at the sight, and turns back to run further, feet screaming with pain now each time they hit the uneven forest floor. He knows neither of them can keep this up much longer, and he knows they’re both running straight back towards the ravine. If they don’t act fast it’ll chase them right over the edge. A quick glance around tells him there’s denser forest to their left, with smaller bushes and less wide, open spaces, and Dave grabs hold of Karkat once again and drags him sideways suddenly. The movement startles Karkat, and the two both stumble to the ground together, sprawled across the dusty earth. The drone, unable to change path quickly enough due to its size, stumbles onwards.

For a moment they’re both silent. Karkat heaves himself up onto his hands and knees and holds himself there for a moment, panting heavily. His limbs are shaking, and when Dave looks over at him properly after a moment, he sees red tears tracing their way down his face.

“Hey,” Dave says, “You okay?”

Karkat’s shoulders shudder as he represses a sob, and then he sits up properly and looks over at Dave. “I’m fine,” he says, words forced out through gritted teeth. The tears still pouring down his face and the desperate shake of his head don’t do so well at reinforcing his point.

Dave doesn’t push it. He knows Karkat hates talking about his problems as much as he does. “What was that thing?” He asks instead, “You said… a culling drone? Why do they exist?”

Karkat heaves a heavy sigh, and then looks up at Dave slowly, making nervous eye contact. “They’re there to take out any trolls that don’t conform to their societal roles,” he says, “You know, like, trolls who don’t provide genetics for reproduction, trolls that go against our leaders, that sorta thing… mutants.”

“That’s you, right?” Dave says softly. He’s gleaned enough information from Kanaya, Terezi, and occasionally Karkat, over the last year or so, to work out why Karkat’s so secretive about his blood colour.

Karkat nods weakly, and raises an arm to wipe away a tear with the back of his hands. “I spent my whole childhood learning how to avoid those things,” he says, and Dave feels his heart shatter in two.

“Oh, Karks,” he says quietly, “I’m sorry. I always talk about my shitty childhood but -”

“It’s fine,” Karkat says roughly, before clearing his throat uncomfortably loudly,”Let’s just get the fuck out of here.”

There’s a rumbling then, and the crashing of trees a while off.

“Nope, it’s coming back,” Dave says, shrinking backwards, “Gotta stay hidden.”

“No, Dave, you don’t get it,” Karkat says, and when Dave looks down he finds a small, grey hand clutching tightly at his sleeve, “It’s got our scent now. It’s not gonna leave us alone.”

“Look, we can’t let it chase us again,” Dave says, “It was gonna chase us right of the edge of that fucking chasm that split open earlier.”

Karkat groans loudly. “Of course it was,” he says, “I don’t think this bubble’s gonna give up, Strider. We’re fucked.”

“We must be able to get away somehow,” Dave says, “I can fly us out.”

Karkat shakes his head again. “Drones can fly too,” he says, “They’re inescapable. That’s the whole point.”

Dave falls silent for a long time, desperately trying to think of some way to get them out of there. When he looks back down at Karkat, he sees that the troll’s curling in on himself again, ears twitching like they always do when he’s scared. The sight of it drives another stab of pity through his heart, and he makes a decision.

“Karks,” he says, already searching through his sylladex, “Stay right here, okay?”

The trolls looks up at him, eyes narrowing. “What are you going to do?” He asks nervously.

“Just stay hidden,” Dave says, “Promise me? I’ll be back soon.”

Karkat stares at him for a second, but then there’s a loud crash from the drone nearby and he flinches again, scrabbling further backwards. “I promise,” he says weakly, and then he crawls further backwards, until he’s half under the bush behind him. “Stay safe.”

Dave smiles down at Karkat for a second, and then nods. “I will,” he tells him, “Back in a bit.” Karkat hides himself further, the sound of his scared growling still audible as Dave walks away, and Dave clenches his fists anxiously a few times as he walks away. Then he reaches into his sylladex, finds that sword his ghost self gave him all those days ago, and takes hold of it firmly. The drone’s getting close, he can feel the ground shuddering under his feet, and he strides away from Karkat with the full intention to fight off the drone, or die trying.

It doesn’t take long to find the drone. Dave just follows the noise and shaking treetops until he finds it. It turns towards him instantly, fixing its narrow eyes on him, and then clanks forwards, metal body parts screaming as they grind against each other with each movement. It opens its mouth to let out a mangled scream, and Dave flinches backwards, swinging the sword slowly in his hand.

Then the drone lunges forwards, and instinctively Dave flies up a few feet into the air, sword raised to protect his face. The drone roars again and sends one huge arm swinging forwards, just nearly catching him. Dave rolls backwards on himself in mid air, then swings the sword outwards.There’s a dull clank as it hits metal and does no damage at all. Dave hisses angrily to himself and swings again. Still, there’s no effect. The drone doesn't even react, just takes another shuddering step forwards and throws its arm outwards again. Dave flies further upm and the drone flies up a few feet off the ground to match him, jets whirring in the back of its legs. Dave swings the sword outwards, and this time the point grazes the elbow of the drone, in the soft spot right between the two arm parts, digging down into the wires and circuitry below. There’s a popping noise, and sparks explode outwards, the drone’s arm shuddering in its movement for a second.

Dave draws his sword back, and as he watches the drone move again he spots a similar point between the neck and shoulders, where the wiring within is visible when the drone moves its head sideways. He flies upwards further, closer to the drone’s head, sword held outwards again. The drone roars and tries to fly further upwards, but Dave’s quicker, soaring forwards and looping back around, grabbing onto the rough metal on the back of the drone and using it to hoist himself upwards. The drone tries to shake him off, roaring angrily again and thrashing its head around. Dave heaves himself further upwards onto the drone’s shoulder, and hoists the sword upwards. That’s when the drone suddenly crashes back down to the ground, and Dave has to hold on for dear life as it shudders underneath him. The drone’s got its attention fixed on something else though, and Dave looks over to see what it’s looking at. 

“Oh shit,” he groans as he sees what’s down there. Karkat’s standing not too far away, a single sickle clutched in one hand, held up in some vague attempt to protect himself. “Karkat!” Dave shouts, “Get out of here! I can handle this!”

“No you can’t!” Karkat shouts back, voice drifting distantly to him, “You don’t know about these things.”

The drone starts to prepare itself to move forwards, and Dave knows it’s now or never. So he raises the sword up and plunges it directly downwards in the space between the drone’s neck and shoulders, hitting every wire possible on the way down. It shudders beneath him, lets out a garbled roar, and then takes a few stumbling steps forwards.

“Karkat, get outta here!” Dave shouts, “It’s gonna fall!”

Karkat looks up at him defiantly for a second, but then turns and hurries away, disappearing amongst some distant shrubbery. Dave’s barely got a few seconds to focus on that before the drone properly topples. Without enough time to fly up and away from the drone, Dave just holds on as it falls, vision blurring as he falls downwards at high speed. He vaguely hears the sound of something crashing heavily against the ground, and the feeling of the front of his head smashing into metal, and then everything goes black.

*****

“Dave, Dave, oh fuck, Dave.”

Dave opens up his eyes slowly and groans. Karkat’s crouched over him, and he sees the troll’s face practically melt in relief as he starts to struggle to sit up.

“Oh thank gog,” Karkat breathes out as Dave manages to sit properly up, and then his face falls into a frown. “You fucking idiot!” He growls, smacking Dave’s shoulder, “I told you they were unbeatable!”

“Well I fucking beat it, didn’t I?” he mumbles tiredly.

“You’re still an idiot,” Karkat grumbles, but then he sighs softly, “But thank you.” He crawls over a chunk of loose metal between the two of them, and sits down beside Dave, turning his body sideways to look over at him. “You’re bleeding,” he says, reaching out with one hand to wipe away a droplet of blood from Dave’s forehead, “Hit your head pretty hard.”

“I’m fine,” Dave says, letting Karkat retract his hand before pushing his own hand up into his hair and gently poking at the gash on his forehead with one finger. He winces at the pain, but ignores it, and wipes the blood away on his shirt. He looks down to see Karkat turn his head away from him, curled defensively in on himself again. “Hey, really, I’m fine,” Dave says, but then he hears a loud sniffing noise, and leans over to look at Karkat more closely.

“It’s not just you,” Karkat admits after a few more moments, shoulders shaking, “It’s… everything. This bubble I… I’m scared all the time, Dave. I don’t like being scared. It feels weak and… it feels like this bubble has it out for me. Like… everything that scares me is here. I was stupid to think I could ever get away this stuff. Just because Alternia’s gone, doesn’t mean I’m not still… a freak.”

Dave shifts himself closer to Karkat, once again wishing he knew more about comforting people so he could somehow help the troll. “Hey, Kat,” he says softly, “Look at me.” Karkat turns to look over at him with wide, teary eyes, and Dave smiles weakly at him. “You’re gonna be okay,” he tells him, “You’re not on your own out here. We’re together. And we look out for each other. And if there’s one thing you’re not, it’s a freak. You’re loud, and annoying as fuck sometimes, and possibly the strangest person I’ve ever met, but you are not a freak. Okay?”

Karkat blinks away a few tears, and then shuffles closer, leaning his head down so it falls down onto Dave’s shoulder. “Okay,” he says, “Okay.”

For a moment Dave freezes under Karkat’s touch, but then relaxes into the troll’s side. He glances sideways for a moment, and sees his sword laying amongst the destruction of the drone snapped in half. He picks it up and sighs. 

“Lucky you’ve still got that sickle,” he says, and Karkat lets out a huff of laughter. “Wanna get away from here?” Dave asks, “Dunno about you but spending the day sitting amongst the bits and pieces of a dead drone isn’t exactly my favourite of ways to pass the time.”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Karkat says, and when he starts to get up to his feet he holds out a hand to help him up. Dave sways on his feet for a second, and gets a concerned look from Karkat, but then he balances himself, and the two climb their way out of the wreckage.

“When I was on my way here to stop you from getting killed,” Karkat says as they walk, “I saw like… a hive, I think, in the distance. Maybe a human hive? I don’t know what it was but maybe there’s something there.”

Dave shrugs, still a little tired and dazed from the fight. “Sure,” he says, “Let’s do that.”

Karkat smiles, and keeps walking. A second later he grabs hold of Dave’s sleeve, holding him a little closer to his side. When Dave looks down at his hand curiously, he just shrugs and says, “You’re walking all wonky from the fall. Don’t want you getting lost.”

Dave lets out a small huff of laughter. “Alright,” he says with a small shrug, and for a while he’s happy to keep walking, pretending he doesn’t quite feel the way Karkat’s thumb moves in gentle, comforting circles on his arm as he holds him there.

Karkat’s right. Sat on top of a small slope not too far away, is a small house,or more of a cabin. A wooden cabin, half falling apart, roof caving inwards and walls rotting.

“This place doesn’t look too promising, Karkat,” Dave says as they approach it.

“Better than being out here where anything could get us,” Karkat says with a small shudder, “Let’s just have a look inside.”

The door’s swinging half-open on rusted hinges when they approach, and Dave sticks his head through the gap slowly to have a look around. It looks dark inside. Karkat pushes the door open beside Dave, and the two step inside slowly.

“Are there no fucking windows in this place?” Karkat asks, “Why the fuck is it so dark?”

Dave shrugs. “Gotta be a fucking light switch around here somewhere,” he says, stepping in and peering at the wall by his side. He reaches around for a second, running has hand along the wall, and finally hits the edge of a switch, and flips it.

Karkat hisses loudly as the light hits his eyes, and then shakes his head quickly to clear it before following Dave, who’s already heading into the house. Dave glances over his shoulder for a second at Karkat with an amused smile, before heading further up the hall and pushing open the first door on his right. Instantly, he freezes in his tracks, and Karkat stumbles right into the back of him.

“Strider” Karkat snaps, stepping around him, “What the fuck was that for?” When there’s no answer from Dave, he steps around the human’s side to look into the room. “What is this place?” He asks, looking in at the bedroom laid out in front of them.

“This is… my old bedroom. Again,” Dave says. “But… what the fuck is it doing in here, in this cabin?”

“Oh, this is your old hive?” Karkat asks, “Cool.” And then he wanders right into the bedroom.

“Karkat! Wait!” Dave calls, following him inside, “This place might not be safe.”

Karkat looks over his shoulder and raises an eyebrow. “Why the fuck wouldn’t it be?” He asks, and Dave’s reminded that some people are blissfully aware of the horrors his old apartment contained.

“Just… be careful,” Dave sighs, and wanders over to sit down on the end of the bed heavily.

The place seems deserted as far as Dave can tell. At least no ghosts have appeared so far. So he tries to make himself relax, leaning back a little on the bed as much as he can and watching as Karkat walks in small circles around the room, and looking at things here and there.

“Hey, Dave,” the troll calls, “What’s this?” He holds something up, and Dave squints at it, before smiling slightly at the familiar object.

“Old fossil,” he says with a small nod, “I used to collect them.”

“Like… old dead Earth stuff?” Karkat asks, “That’s…”

“Lame?” Dave guesses with a small sigh.

“No, actually, I was gonna say, sorta interesting,” Karkat says, turning the little fossil over in his hands.

“Oh yeah?” Dave asks, “I always thought so too. I liked collecting them. It was… my own little thing, I guess. Something Bro couldn’t interfere with.”

Karkat looks up, and smiles faintly. “You collected them?” He asks, “Have you got more?”

“You… you actually wanna see them?” Dave’s a little surprised. He’s never had anyone listen to him talk about his interests before.

“Yeah!” Karkat says, “I mean… I made your Earth. Might as well learn some of its history.”

“Okay,” Dave says slowly, “Um, you see that drawer over there? The little one? Just pull the whole thing out and bring it over.”

“Okay,” Karkat says, and wanders over to drag the drawer out from the desk. He shifts its weight in his arms for a second, and then carries it over to set it down onto the bed. He climbs up to sit on the bed with Dave, and then starts looking through the fossils and preserved dead things curiously, Dave occasionally picking one up and looking at it before casting it aside. “These are cool,” Karkat says after a moment, “Where’d you get all this shit?”

“I don’t know,” Dave shrugs, “Brought most of it online. I think Rose sent one to me once that she found in her garden. I forget these things. Guess they weren’t… important. Just a stupid childish hobby.”

“Not important but you kept them all?” Karkat asks.

“I guess,” Dave sighs, “I just… needed things to keep myself busy. Fill in the long gaps between strifes. And sometimes the not so long gaps. Stop looking at me like that.” He glances over at Karkat, who’s staring at him with wide eyes filled with an emotion he can’t quite understand.

Karkat just looks away and goes back to digging through the drawer. He stops as he finds something new in there, and pulls out a small stack of paper. “What’s this?” He asks, holding it up, and Dave shrugs again, before taking it curiously.

“Oh, these are… stupid,” Dave says as he flicks through the pieces of paper. They’re old photos, selfies, taken with his polaroid camera. They were supposed to be ironic, but now they just look… silly.” He looks at them for a second, and surprises even himself when he lets out a sudden loud laugh. Karkat looks up at him, startled, and Dave laughs again, looking down at the picture of his younger self. He remembers that feeling, of thinking he was so cool and ironic, and not yet quite so terrified of everything.

“Dave?” Karkat asks slowly as Dave continues to laugh, until there are tears tracking slowly down his face, “Everything okay?”

“Y-yeah!” Dave laughs “These are happy tears.” He pauses to wipe a tear from his face and sniff grossly, and Karkat screws up his face.

“You don’t… look happy,” Karkat says as he watches Dave’s face fall very slightly and tears continue to streak down his face.

“No,no, I’m fine,” Dave says with a shake of his head, “Really. It’s nothing. But could we maybe… not stay here much longer?”

Karkat leans his head sideways curiously at him. “Why?” He asks, “I mean… you don’t have to explain, but this place is safe and it’s the best place we’ve found so far.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dave sighs, “But… look, I never felt safe in this place, okay? And every time I come back here I vow I’ll never come back again. But it always fucking appears again. I just… don’t wanna stay any longer, if that’s okay? Feels like the walls are closing in on me.” 

Karkat sweeps the rest of the old fossils into the drawer, and then stands up with a nod. “Yeah, alright,” he says.

“Really?” Dave asks.

“Yeah,” Karkat shrugs, “I know we don’t talk about it a lot but we’ve both had shitty pasts. I’m not gonna make you deal with things you don’t want to deal with, because you wouldn’t do that to me…Why are you crying again?”

“It’s nothing,” Dave says, wiping away another tear, “It’s just...I didn’t expect you to be nice about it?”

Karkat stares at him for a second, and then shakes his head. “You really don’t know me, do you, Strider?” He says softly, “Let’s go.” He gets up, and holds up a hand to help Dave up, only to watch Dave slide off of the bed onto the floor and then start to dig around under the bed. “Okay… what’s happening now?”

“Gimme a second,” Dave grunts, and then wriggles out from under the bed with several items in his hands. “If there’s one thing that’s always in my bedroom, it’s a stash of food. Sorta had to… store this stuff, just in case.”

“Well, that’s depressing but helpful,” Karkat says, reaching out to take some of the food as Dave hands it over. Dave nods silently, and then together the two of them leave the room and head out of the cabin. Dave might be imagining, but he’s sure that, as he walks, he feels Karkat gently nudge his arm against Dave’s in an almost comforting gesture. He turns to look over at him, but the troll’s staring pointedly off in the other direction, and all Dave can see of him is the slight red tinge to the tips of his ears. Dave smiles faintly to himself, and looks back down at the pile of food in his arms.

They walk in silence only for a few moments, until they come to the bottom of yet another hill, and find a large clear area of grassy field in the centre of the forest. Dave pauses for a second, relieved to find flat, solid ground under his feet for the first time in a while.

“This looks like a good picnic spot,” Dave says, looking around.

“Picnic?” Karkat raises an eyebrow.

“Like… eating outdoors,” Dave says, “You guys don’t have picnics?”

“Dave, my planet was full of monsters who wanted to kill me, and trolls who wanted to kill me, I wasn’t gallivanting around and enjoying snacks outdoors.”

“Right, yeah,” Dave says, “Well you just… sit on the floor and eat food.”

“Sounds like everything we’ve been doing since we got here but okay,” Karkat says with a shrug, before flopping down onto the grass. Dave smirks faintly at him, but then drops down next to him and spreads out the food they’ve got.

“Ah, cool, Doritos!” Dave cheers, grabbing hold of a bag, “And apple juice. Fuck yes.”

“Human food’s weird as shit,” Karkat says, ripping open a bag of popcorn with his claws and then fishing out a few pieces, “But I’m hungry as fuck and it’s good so I’m not complaining.”

“You, not complaining?” Dave scoffs, “First time for everything I guess.”

Karkat tosses a piece of popcorn directly into Dave’s face, and Dave lets out a loud laugh before throwing it straight back. Karkat lets out a shriek and falls sideways so he’s laying on the grass, before tossing a piece of popcorn upwards and catching it in his mouth.

“Dude!” Dave gasps exaggeratedly.

“What?” Karkat grunts.

“Dude!”

“WHAT?”

“How did you catch that popcorn so easily? It took me years to master that!” Dave asks.

“Fucking easy,” Karkat says, “I’ve said before, trolls are the superior species.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Dave huffs, “You win this one.”

Karkat grins, and throws a piece of popcorn at Dave’s face again before slowly sitting back up. “Give me some fucking Doritos then, asshole,” he grunts and Dave laughs and pushes the bag over towards him.

“Hey,” Dave says after a while, as Karkat’s still crunching his way through a handful of Doritos. He tips his head upwards and looks off distantly. “I think it’s… getting dark? How long… have we been awake for?”

“Definitely not for a whole fucking day,” Karkat says, “This place fucking sucks.”

“Amen to that,” Dave grunts.

“Amen?”

“Don’t worry about it. Doesn’t mean much anyways now Earth’s gone,” Dave says, “So… guess this is dinner, huh?”

“Guess so,” Karkat says with a small shrug, “Another night here. This place is weird.”

“Mmh,” Dave hums in agreement, “I’m so glad I found you. Yesterday, I mean. Well, but also -”

“Yeah, Dave, I got it,” Karkat cuts him off before he can ramble himself off into a tangent like they both know he will otherwise. “Me too,” Karkat adds after a second, “I mean… I’m glad I met you too.”

Dave looks up at him, and smiles, trying to stop his face from flushing. “Thanks,” he says quietly, “So…staying here for tonight?”

“Sure,” Karkat says, “Isn’t anywhere better.”

“Yeah,” Dave nods, “True.”

As the sun starts to drop lower, Dave takes a sip of apple juice, relishing the familiar and refreshing taste, and smiling faintly to himself. He leans backwards, and watches out of the corner of his eye as Karkat kicks off his shoes.

“What are you doing, man?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.

“We’ve been walking for days,” Karkat says, “My feet need a fucking break. How are you not in agony too?”

“I… guess I am a bit, actually,” Dave says with a sigh, and then kicks off his own shoes, watching as one flies away a small distance and then bounces very slightly. It’s getting dark quickly, he realises, and leans back further, until the back of his head hits the cool grass underneath him, and he watches as the sky becomes a dark velvety blue above their heads. There’s silence again, and Dave smiles comfortably up at the sky. Silence used to be his worst nightmare. It still is, sometimes. Danger lurks in silence, and fear, too. Silence in the apartment always meant his Bro wasn’t around, or was lurking somewhere. It meant he had to be careful with every step he took. But now the silence is almost relaxing. He can just about hear Karkat’s breathing from where the troll’s now laying next to him, stars are starting to appear in the sky above them, and there’s a blanket of peace slowly falling over everything. Dave could almost stay here forever. 

“So,” Dave says after a moment, hesitant to break the silence but feeling a need to speak,“I guess I didn’t do a great job at making the dream bubble fun today.”

Karkat lets out a soft huff of laughter, and moves a hand above his head to use his arm as a pillow. “Mmh, yeah, not quite,” he says, “try better next time.” They both laugh softly for a second, and then Karkat rolls over to prop himself up on one elbow and face Dave. “Thanks for saving me today. Twice,” he says.

“Yeah, no problem man,” Dave grunts, “Best bros gotta look out for each other.”

Karkat smiles a little shyly, and Dave shifts his body over so he too can look properly over at Karkat.

“You know, man,” Dave says quietly,” This place has made me confront a lot of shit I didn’t wanna think about.”

“Yeah, me too,” Karkat says.  
.  
“Yeah, I know,” Dave says, “It’s just… there’s one more thing the dream bubble made me realise, that I think I already knew anyway.”

Karkat raises an eyebrow a little, and moves again to prop himself further up on his elbow so he can look at Dave a little better. “What's that?” He asks.

“That… that if there’s anyone I could ever have wanted to be stuck here with, it’s you,” Dave admits. A dorky smile spreads further against Karkat’s face, and the sight of it pushes Dave to say the rest of what’s been on his mind for so long now. “And I think… I think I… You just mean a lot to me dude and I… fuck, I… I’m just glad I met you.” He sighs softly as he bails out of what he really wants to say, cursing himself for being as much of a coward as usual.

For a second Karkat’s silent, and then he smiles again, a little shakily, and reaches out to put a hand on Dave’s arm gently. It takes all of Dave’s strength to not flinch at the sudden contact, and he looks down at Karkat’s hand and then back up at his face in slight confusion.

“I’m glad I met you too, Strider,” Karkat says after a moment, “You’re an insufferable prick half of the time, and an only slightly less insufferable prick the other half, but you’re less insufferable than all the other assholes I’ve had to put up with in my life.”

“That’s a lot of insufferables in one sentence,” Dave laughs shakily, and Karkat snorts, taking his hand away from Dave to slap him on the shoulder instead.

There’s a moment of silence, when they both stay a little too close and Dave’s uncomfortably aware of how loud he can himself breathing, and then Karkat’s eyes move away to look curiously at something over his shoulder. Dave watches as Karkat’s eyes stretch wider, and his ears twitch upright.

“What?” Dave asks.

“What the fuck are those things?” Karkat asks, scrambling to sit up. Dave’s quick to sit up too, and turns to follow Karkat’s wide, slightly scared gaze. For a moment he’s worried, but then he realises what Karkat’s looking at and he relaxes.

Floating above the line of grass are small lights, flitting here and there against the dark backdrop of the sky. Dave’s never seen them in real life before, but he knows enough from the nature documentaries that Jade used to send to him that those are fireflies.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Dave tells him, “Those are just fireflies. They’re like… bugs, but they glow? I think. I don’t really understand it but they were a normal thing back on earth.”

“Oh,” Karkat says, shoulders slumping back to their usual position as he relaxes, and then he turns to look at Dave, biting at his lower lip slightly. “Can I go see them?” He asks a little meekly.

“Yeah, sure thing dude,” Dave says with a shrug, “You don’t gotta ask me.”

A tiny smile splits across Karkat’s face, and then he gets up to his feet and starts to practically race towards the distant insects. Dave watches as Karkat runs, sending the flies scattering in either direction as he goes, and he’s reminded once again of everything he loves so much about Karkat. He’s uptight and angry half of the time, but sometimes, when he he lets loose a little like this, he’s like an excited kid, and it’s adorable.

“Hey, Kat!” he calls without thinking about it first, “Wait up!” And then he’s running after Karkat as fast as he can, watching as the glowing lights of fireflies dance around him as he does so. Karkat’s still running around excitedly, almost as fast as he was running from danger beforehand, and Dave has to push himself a little to keep up with him. Finally, after everything that’s happened today, he feels the stress and anxiety slipping off of his shoulders, unable to focus on any thoughts of the horrors of the bubble. That’s all the past, and now’s the present. And the present is him, and Karkat, running barefoot through a field of fireflies in the middle of the night,the distant sound of Karkat laughing to himself reaching his ears, as constellations of stars he doesn’t recognise shine overhead. He thinks he could stay in this moment forever.

After a moment Karkat comes to a halt, looking around himself in awe, and Dave stumbles up after him, pausing and breathing a little heavily. Karkat turns his head, and as Dave looks up he catches sight of the troll’s eyes, still stretched wide but this time in excitement rather than worry, the lights of the fireflies making his skin seem to glow and reflecting in his pupils. He looks as breathtaking as he usually does to Dave, hair sticking out around him like a wild cloud, and looking so completely distracted by the world around him. Some part of that joy Karkat seems to feel for whatever this is seems to be rubbing off on Dave, and for a moment he just watches Karkat happily. As Karkat catches Dave’s eye he smiles again, bouncing on his toes a little excitedly, and some part of Dave’s mind forces him to make a decision. He doesn’t want to wait any longer. It already feels like he’s been waiting for this moment for years.

“Oh, fuck it,” he grumbles softly, and then, before Karkat can question what he’s saying, he reaches out and grabs hold of Karkat’s sweater, pulling him closer to him. Karkat lets out a little squeak of surprise, blinking curiously as he finds their faces suddenly closer together, and then, before Dave can lose his nerve, he leans in and kisses him.

Karkat gasps slightly in surprise, and for a second Dave’s ready to push Karkat away and pretend this never happened, but then Karkat reaches up to grab hold of the shoulders of Dave’s shirt, tugging him closer down towards him, and Dave feels his fear that he’s messed something up slowly melt away. He reaches up a hand to cup Karkat’s face gently, pulling him in closer as he feels Karkat start to slowly kiss him back, and then he breaks the kiss a little suddenly.

“Sorry,” he says, face still so close to Karkat’s that he can feels the troll’s heavy breathing against his face, “I just thought I -”

He’s silenced completely by Karkat diving back in and crashing his mouth against Dave’s with far more force than their first kiss, claws digging into his shoulders a little. Dave’s not complaining, though, and he groans softly as Karkat suddenly works a hand upwards into his hair and tugs at it gently, his fangs scraping against Dave’s lower lip. He’s cautious as his tongue hits Karkat’s teeth, still not exactly sure how sharp those things are, and then he’s distracted by a soft rumbling sound, and vaguely registers that Karkat’s purring. He presses in closer, feels the vibrations of the purring against his own chest, and moves his mouth away so he can hug Karkat properly like he’s been wanting to for ages. Karkat turns his head inwards to press a few soft kisses along Dave’s jaw and then down the column of his throat, before leaning his head in against Dave’s shoulder and letting out a slow sigh.

“So,” Karkat murmurs after a few quiet moments have passed, “What are we… what are we doing?”

“Making out in a dream bubble?” Dave suggests shakily, and Karkat thumps a fist against his chest.

“You know what I mean, asshole,” he says, “Did you just do that to humour me because you know how I feel and you felt sorry for me or because you’re bored or what?”

“I uh…” Dave tries to find some way to react to the idea that Karkat’s been feeling the same way, and then swallows thickly, “Gimme a moment I just… fuck… need a second to think.”

“Right,” Karkat says slowly, and there’s a touch of fear to his voice that speeds up Dave's thought process just a little.

After a few seconds he clears his throat and then tries again. “I didn’t… I didn’t know you felt like that,” he tells Karkat, “But… yeah, I… I feel it too man. Sorry… it’s hard to say it, ya know.”

“I know,” Karkat says quietly, voice muffled by the fact his face is now pressed firmly into Dave’s chest. “I wanted to kiss you earlier, after you fought that drone. You looked so fucking attractive, all fucking heroic and shit and I… wasn’t brave enough.”

“I want to kiss you always,” Dave admits, “Just… all the fucking time.”

“I wouldn’t mind you kissing me all the time,” Karkat says a little weakly, raising his head up to look at Dave bashfully, not quite making eye contact as his face flushes.

Dave lets out a small huff of laughter. “We gotta work on your flirting skills, Karkles,” he says, but then he reaches out one hand to tip Karkat’s chin up slightly, murmuring, “Hey, look at me.” The troll looks up slowly, the corner of his mouth tugging down into a little nervous frown, and Dave leans in to kiss the frown away. When he pulls away, Karkat looks away nervously, and then smiles as he notices something, and raises up his hand to look at a firefly that’s landed there.

“Earth had such beautiful things,” Karkat says softly, watching the bug as it crawls towards his hand, “Alternia had nothing like this. Just… things that could kill you.”

Dave doesn’t know what to say to that exactly, so he just watches as Karkat smiles down at the little insect until it flies away, and then wraps his arms gently around Karkat’s waist and pulls him back in close to him.

“I was talking to Rose before the bubble hit,” he says after a while, “She said… Well I think she knew how I felt about you. And she made me realise that… Earth’s gone, and so’s my Bro. Maybe it doesn’t matter what I feel anymore. Maybe it just matters… who I feel it for.”

“I like that,” Karkat says, “I think… I think I feel the same… sort of. I always felt I had to stick to quadrants, and the troll way of dating but you… you came into my life and you changed everything I’ve ever known about romance, like the fucking nightmare you are. But I think maybe I’m not worried about that anymore. Maybe I don’t care about being a romance disaster anymore.”

Dave smiles softly, and moves one arm so he can take hold of Karkat’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “We’ll just be romantic disasters together,” he offers.

“I’d like that,” Karkat says quietly, looking up at Dave with a tiny little smile, and Dave kisses that wonky smile like he’s wanted to every day for more months than he can remember, finally able to and only just realising the full extent of his yearning.

“I like you, man,” Dave says after a moment, “Like, a lot.”

“Good,” Karkat says, “Cos I like you a whole lot too, fuckass.”

“Ah, there’s the traditional Vantas catchphrase,” Dave says, stepping a little way away from Karkat, but keeping the troll’s hand clutched tightly in his hand. Karkat stumbles along with him, and Dave pulls him back close to him with a small laugh, wrapping his arms around Karkat again and kissing the corner of his mouth. Karkat laughs softly against his mouth as the two sway together, swinging one leg up a little but then stumbling slightly. The two trip together and fall backwards onto the grass, so Dave ends up splayed across Karkat’s chest.

“Oof,” Dave mutters, rolling sideways into the grass and then looking over at Karkat. The troll’s eyes are lit up with happiness, and Dave can’t help leaning in and pecking him quickly on the lips once again. Each kiss makes his heart squeeze with nervousness just a little, but each time Karkat kisses him back it soothes Dave’s nerves, and he sinks into it gently.

“Should’ve lit a fire,” Karkat grumbles after a moment, when Dave’s moved to just rest his forehead against Karkat’s, “It’s fucking cold.”

“Mmh, I know,” Dave says, draping an arm slowly over Karkat’s waist, “Can’t wait for this shit to be over.”

“It’s… kinda nice though, sometimes, right?” Karkat murmurs, “Like this… this is nice. We should’ve done this sooner.”

“Yeah,” Dave says, and then asks, “You’re tired, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Can just tell,” Dave shrugs, “From the way you just… murmur random shit.”

“Heh,” Karkat says softly, “You know me better than I thought.”

“Yup,” Dave says, “I know. Pretty sure I’ve been saying that for ages now.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Karkat huffs softly, shuffling a little closer to Dave’s chest. “Hey, um…could you maybe...fuck, could you kiss me again?”

“Heh,” Dave lets out a small snort of laughter, “You don’t gotta ask.” 

“I know it’s just… no one’s ever really… kissed me like that before.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, me neither. Not really,” Dave shrugs, “There were some people,before Bro took me out of class but… yeah, whatever.” He leans in then, and gently presses his lips to Karkat’s. He can tell Karkat’s getting tired now, the troll’s movements slower as he leisurely kisses Dave back, soft and savouring but sleepy too.

After a few moments, Karkat slowly breaks the kiss, and lets out a small yawn, before nuzzling his face into the soft material of the cape over Dave’s shoulders.

“Karkat,” Dave says.

“Hmm?”

“Tomorrow, and… after the bubble and everything… are we still gonna be… you know? Like this isn’t going to just be a thing we forget about and then -”

“No, Dave, I think we’ve established by now this a kind of serious thing, that we definitely need to speak about more because both of us are terrible at speaking about our feelings,” Karkat drawls, before his tone gets a little more gentle, “Don’t worry about it , alright? I’m not just gonna pretend this never happened when we get back. I’m not an asshole.”

“Good,” Dave says, letting out a deep sigh of relief, “Good. Now get some sleep, I’ll see you in the morning.”

His shirt has slipped slightly where Karkat’s face is pressing into it, and Dave feels Karkat smile into his skin. “Yeah,” he murmurs, “night.”

Dave works a hand into Karkat’s messy hair gently, stroking through tangled curls, and hums softly. “See you in the morning, Kat.”

Already Karkat seems to have drifted off to sleep. His breathing’s evening out slowly, and there’s no reply from him as Dave continues to play with his hair gently. He smiles to himself, staring up at the sky above him, and thanking whatever higher powers there might be that this bubble ever existed. It’s been awful, but for once in his life he’s finally happy with things. Finally he’s done the one thing he’s been wanting to for ages. The last conscious thought he has before he falls asleep with a wide smile on his face is that Rose is going to be proud of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there it finally is, the big moment. i've had parts of this chapter written up for ages and i've been so excited to get here. that's why this chapter is as long as half of the rest of the chapters so far combined. i'm really hoping people enjoyed how this was written and how i handled them getting together, and i just loved the imagery a lot in this. anyway i don't know what i was meaning to say when i first started writing this.  
> one chapter left!! exciting times! thanks for reading this far if you did!


	7. Breathe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no warnings for this chapter, just some nice stuff ahead. enjoy.

Dave blinks his eyes open, and the first thing he feels is the familiar softness of his pillow underneath the back of his head. His shades have slipped off of his face, and he searches around for a second before finding them next to him on the bed. Wait. Bed. He’s on his bed?

Dave sits up suddenly, far too fast, and for a second his vision goes fuzzy. Right, his body’s been laying in the same position for the last three days while his consciousness has been off in the bubble, gotta go careful. He slowly swings his legs around to stand up off of the bed, and then as he turns he spots his phone laying on the bed. He leans down and swipes it up from the bed, clicking through pesterchum as he sways slightly on his unused legs. A sudden memory from the night before sweeps across his mind, and he stops, phone in one hand, and smiles faintly to himself, raising his free hand to press his thumb against his bottom lip gently. He kissed Karkat. He did it. And it didn’t backfire. He grins wider, and then shakes his head quickly to shake the thought sway and stop himself getting distracted, raising the phone back up to his face. The first name he looks for is Karkat’s, and he huffs softly when he sees he’s offline. With a small sigh, he types off a few messages anyway.

TG: hey  
TG: morning  
TG: you up?  
TG: karks?  
TG: karkat?  
TG: fuck dude you better not still be stuck in that bubble  
TG: gonna leave me hanging huh?  
TG: alright  
TG: see ya later i guess  
TG: uhhh  
TG: …  
TG: <3  
TG: …  
TG: that was so uncool  
TG: please pretend i didn’t do that  
TG: thanks  
TG: alright bye now

He pushes his phone into his pocket, and pretends that he’s not already feeling anxious again just a little at the lack of replies from Karkat. He can’t stop a thousand worries drifting through his mind though. Maybe he’s the only one who’s left the bubble and he’ll be alone here until the others get back. Maybe only Karkat’s been left behind. Worst of all, maybe Karkat’s regretting the night before and he’s ignoring Dave. He dwells on them for a second too long, and dread settles into the pit of his stomach. Anxiously, he takes his phone back out to tap aimlessly at the screen, until a small green ‘online’ symbol catches his eye, and he lets out a sigh of relief. It’s not next to Karkat’s name, but rather settled next to a familiar purple chumhandle. For a second, Dave’s thumb hovers over Rose’s username, but then he decides against it, and pockets the phone again, instead heading for the door out of his room. Rose can’t be far, and he’d rather talk to her face to face.

Rose’s room is just down the other end of the corridor from his, and he makes his way there quickly, the faint hum of anxiety in the back of his mind keeping his pace quick. When he reaches the familiar door, with the terrible drawing of a cat he drew for her on her last birthday taped to it, he doesn’t even bother knocking, just pushes the door halfway open and peers inside. Sure enough, Rose is awake, and pacing,tapping a pen against her chin in that way she always does when she’s thinking. Dave just clears his throat to let her know he;s there before heading in, pushing the door shut behind him, and flopping down onto her bed. He lands amongst soft purple cushions, discarded pieces of knitting, and that gentle scent of violets and lavender that follows Rose everywhere she goes.

“Dave, nice to see you again,” Rose says, barely looking in his direction, too focused now on scribbling in a small notebook in her hand,” Is this just a social visit or something else?”

“Can’t a dude come see his ecto-sis after being trapped in a hell bubble for days on end?” Dave asks. Rose looks up at that, and a faint half-smile twitches at the corner of her mouth.

“I suppose you can,” she says with a nod. “Budge over,” she adds, before she sits down on the space on the bed beside Dave, gently scooping one cushion up into her hands and holding it in her lap as she looks over at him expectantly. “So,” she says, “How was your bubble experience?”

“The word that comes to mind is: terrifying,” Dave says, “Runners up are: shit, hell, and nightmare.”

“That… pretty much sums it up, yes,” Rose says, “Though I assume we both had very different experiences, due to the nature of the bubble.”

“What d’you mean?” Dave asks.

“The bubbles normally tap into our memories, and create a landscape out of those,” Rose says, scooping her notebook up from amongst the folds of the bed covers again and flicking through a few pages as she speaks, “But this one seemed to draw instead from our deepest fears, worries, anxieties, and such. The darker parts of the mind, one might say. I’m assuming you saw some things you didn’t want to think about in there.”

For a moment Dave’s silent. It makes sense that all those awful things were thrown together to test them, and make them suffer through their fears. “Yeah,” he says after a moment, “We had a tough time in there, but it’s alright.”

“We?” Rose asks.

“Oh yeah, ran into Karkat,” Dave shrugs, “We stuck together because… well why wouldn’t we, that place sucked.”

“That’s...interesting. I was alone in that bubble, and from what I've heard from the others since we got back, they all were too. Strange that you and Karkat would be able to meet up with each other, when being alone always makes fear so much more potent,” Rose murmurs, adding something to her notes.

“Huh, really?” Dave asks, “Figured it was just a coincidence that he was around. I mean there were a lot of dead Karkats too but they were weird.”

“Dead Karkats?”

“Yeah, all like bloody and injured and stuff,” Dave shrugs, “Something to do with Karkat’s fear of blood I guess.”

“But… you saw them too?” Rose asks, “Even when he wasn't there?”

“Yeah.”

“Strange.”

“Why?” Dave asks, now a little worried as she fixes that slightly too intense gaze on him.

“It just seems that the bubble seemed to know that you and Karkat’s fears are so closely tangled together that making you face them together was better,” Rose says, “Like… losing each other to your fears was worse than the fears themselves.”

“I… maybe?” Dave says, “I don’t know. It was bad.”

“Yeah, I know,” Rose says softly, and for a moment her speech trails off, eyes glazing over and becoming a little distant.

“You good?” Dave asks.

“Yes just… the bubble made me think about some things I’d rather not have,” she says, “I’ll be okay.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Dave offers. After all, Rose is always there when he needs to talk, but when it comes to her own emotions, she’s always been a little closed off.

“No, no, not yet,” Rose says, “One day we should probably all get together and discuss this bubble but...for now let’s just all process it by ourselves.”

Dave knows that’s Rose’s way of telling him he hasn’t got to share the things he was confronted with either, and he smiles gratefully at her.

“So, you and Karkat,” she says after a moment, “How was it?”

“Good,” Dave says, “Really good,” and a small grin travels across his face.

“Oh really?” Rose smirks, and Dave smacks her shoulder lightly.

“Yeah I sorta… kissed him last night,” Dave says slowly.

Rose sits upright, fingers squeezing into the pillow she’s grasping, and actually smiles, wide and genuine. “And?” She asks.

“And… and it sorta felt like the start of something,” Dave admits, aware of just how bright red his face must be right now.

Rose smiles wider, and then frowns slightly. “So… and forgive me for saying this so crudely… why the fuck are you here talking to me instead of with him?”

“Uh, he wasn’t… answering his messages,” Dave shrugs.

“So… go to him? You live like five minutes away from him,” Rose says, “Or have you forgotten that in the last three days?”

“No I know it’s just…”

“Worried?” Rose guesses, “yeah, I know. I was worried when Kanaya and I got together that one day it would all break apart but, well, it hasn’t yet.” She frowns again a little then, and scoops the notebook back up. “Go and talk to him, Dave. We can all get together and talk about this bubble later, but this is more important right now. You’ll be okay.”

“I know,” Dave sighs softly, “It’s just…I’ve fucked up everything I’ve ever done. I can’t fuck this one up. He’s the one thing I won’t be able to cope with losing.”

Rose’s face softens a little. “Dave,” she murmurs, quieter now, gentler even, “You’re not going to mess this up. I’ve talked to you a lot about Karkat recently and I know how much he means to you. I know you’re not going to mess this up. You and Karkat work well together, you’ll be okay.”

Dave sighs softly, but then smiles faintly to himself. Rose is right. He and Karkat have grown so much closer together in the last few months, despite their rocky start when neither had gotten along too well. He’s going to do whatever he can to make this work.

“Thanks, Rose,” he says softly, and slowly pulls himself out of the clutches of her far too comfortable bed, “I’m gonna go see if I can find him.”

“Good luck Dave,” she calls after him with a smile as he goes to leave her room, “You’ve got this.” And as he walks out the room, there’s more confidence in his mind, and he thinks he believes her.

It’s a ten minute walk from Rose’s room to Karkat’s, and Dave taps his fingers nervously against his thighs as he walks, humming a rhythmless tune to himself in a pointless attempt at distraction. He’s almost forgotten all his worries about Karkat not being there until he pushes open the door to Karkat’s room and finds it empty.

He steps into the room for a moment, and looks around himself curiously. Everything’s as it usually is; a pile of movies, sweaters, and a few random sickles sits in one corner; the recuperacoon stis, half full of sopor at the other side of the room, and an old, battered Alternian romance novel is laying abandoned on a chair by the only window in the room that looks out on the expanse of space beyond. It’s familiar, but without Karkat there he feels like he’s imposing, and that he’s a little uncomfortable. Karkat must be around here somewhere, or so he hopes, and so he leaves the room and heads back out into the corridor. From there, though, he’s got no idea exactly where to go, and within a few moments Dave finds himself pacing almost aimlessly.

He wanders past the kitchen, which sits completely abandoned, a half-eaten bowl of cereal still sitting on the table, left there by whoever was eating before the bubble hits. It reminds Dave awfully of an old horror movie he once watched, and he shudders to himself as he walks straight past and towards the common room. There is, luckily, someone in there, and though it’s not Karkat the sight of someone else’s face makes him a little more calm. It’s Terezi, sitting at a computer and tapping away at something, grinning to herself as she does. She sniffs at the air, and then turns her head to focus her grin on him.

“Cool kid!” She greets him, “Welcome back.”

“Ugh,” Dave groans, “It’s good to be back here. Have you seen grumpy mcnubs?”

“Karkat? No,” Terezi answers, “Probably in his room.”

“Just checked, he’s not.”

Terezi shrugs. “I don’t know, then. He’ll turn up eventually.”

“Yeah, I know just… gotta find him,” Dave says, and Terezi raises one eyebrow sharply. “Nothing important,” he says, “Just… let me know if you see him. I mean, not see but…”

“Got it,” she says, “I’ll message you if I sniff him out.” Her tongue flickers out between her sharp teeth, snake-like and almost sinister, or it would be if Dave didn’t know her well enough.

“Thanks Tez,” he calls over his shoulder as he turns and leaves again.

Anxiety picks further at his mind as he continues to wander, running out of places to check and no longer quite sure where Karkat could possibly be. The thought crosses his mind that maybe Karkat’s hiding from him, and he stumbles to a halt in the middle of a corridor.

“Chill, Strider,” he mutters softly to himself, but the worry’s getting worse as he desperately tries to work out where Karkat might be. This meteor’s big, but no one, especially not Karkat, ever strays too far from their main rooms. Weird things lurk in the darkness of the other hallways that no one goes down. And Gamzee. Dave’s definitely not ready to deal with the clown today, especially if he’s also been dealing with whatever that bubble was putting them through; that’s sure to have wound him up more. So instead Dave tries to work out exactly what else to do. Vaguely, he remembers something his Bro once taught to him, back in the time when Dave thought his brother actually wanted to help him: ‘if you ever get lost, stand still and wait for the other person to come back’. It’s not the best advice, probably, but he’s got no other choice, so he figures he might as well just find somewhere to wait out and try and calm his nerves until some sign of Karkat turns up. He’s close to his room, and so he turns back towards his bedroom, trying to breathe through the wave of anxiety that’s continuing to consume him as he focuses more and more on Karkat’s missing presence.

By the time he reaches his room he’s almost running, and his breathing’s a little hitched. He practically crashes through the door, vision blurred and he realises he’s maybe crying.

“There you fucking are!” A voice exclaims, and Dave looks up suddenly to find a familiar face staring at him. “I’ve been looking for you,” Karkat grumbles, “Figured you’d be here but you weren’t.”

“ _I’ve_ been looking for _you_ ,” Dave sighs, practically melting in relief at the sight of Karkat, safe and okay and out there looking for him. All of it’s just been a misunderstanding. Suddenly he feels a little stupid for ever suspecting otherwise.

“Yeah, yeah, we probably should have just messaged,” Karkat says, and then frowns, tilting his head to one side slightly. “Are you… alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dave says with a small shake of his head, “I just… I thought… I don’t know what I thought I just -”

Dave doesn’t miss the way Karkat’s ears twitch just a little, eyes stretching just the tiniest bit wider, and then the troll’s face softens, and he surprises Dave completely by opening his arms and holding them out toward him. Dave steps forward, letting out a long sigh as he does so to calm himself down, and folds himself gently against Karkat’s chest, smiling to himself as a pair of warm arms tighten comfortingly around him.

“So,” Karkat says after a moment, “We’re back.”

“Yeah,” Dave says softly, voice muffled by Karkat’s sweater, “I’ve missed this place.”

Karkat hums softly in agreement, and raises a hand up to Dave’s head gently. As he curls a lock of Dave’s blonde hair around his finger, Karkat sways from side to side very slightly, and then eventually cranes his head down to press a kiss to the top of his head gently.

“Ugh,” Karkat mumbles after a while, “How is it possible to be this tired? I just fucking woke up.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dave says, registering as Karkat says that that he’s also starting to feel far more tired than he should, “Transition from the dream bubbles back to real life is always kinda exhausting, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Karkat agrees softly.

Dave stands up properly then, moving his face away from Karkat’s chest so he can look down at him, and smiles faintly. “So we’re still...good, right?” He asks, because he can’t quite get the very last of the anxiety out of his mind.

“Uh, yeah,” Karkat says, “Why wouldn’t we be? Unless you’re… having second thoughts?”

“No, no, I just… thought you might be,” Dave says, “I’m sorry, I can’t help worrying.”

“I know,” Karkat says softly, “But please… don’t. I’m not just gonna ditch you just because we’re back on the meteor.”

“Thank you,” Dave says softly, “I don’t want to be a pain or anything, I’m just making sure.”

“Shoosh,” Karkat says softly, laying a hand against Dave’s cheek, “You’re allowed to be worried. But now I gotta like...sleep for a thousand years, and you’ve probably got to too.”

Dave nods tiredly, and then glances over at his bed behind Karkat. “Did you maybe wanna… um, take a nap together. Maybe?” He regrets the suggestion a little instantly afterwards, and glances away nervously. “Sorry that’s a fucking stupid idea, I didn’t mean to -”

“I’d like that,” Karkat says softly, “It’s been a long few days, and maybe, just maybe, spending all those nights with you falling asleep to movies on the shitty couch has made me realise that it’s nicer sleeping on something soft than in sopor. But if anyone asks you never heard me say that.”

Dave raises an eyebrow with a small smirk, but then smiles faintly at Karkat. “Alright,” he says softly, “My bed’s a fucking mess but make yourself comfortable.” He steps over to lock the door, shaking his head at Karkat when the troll jokingly waggles his eyebrows at him. “Do you want Vriska waking us up or what?”

“Yeah, definitely not,” Karkat says, seating himself comfortably on top of Dave’s bed and watching as he finishes with the door and moves back towards him.

“Get under the sheets, weirdo,” Dave mumbles, crawling up onto the bed and lifting up the blankets to wriggle under them comfortably. Karkat shuffles underneath them too, and then shifts in close to Dave, looking up at him a little nervously.

“Hi,” Karkat says weakly, taking hold of one part of Dave’s cape and twisting it in his hands gently.

Dave laughs softly. “Hey,” he murmurs. Karkat continues to smile up at him, and Dave leans in to kiss him. It’s soft and sweet, and Dave feels the way Karkat sighs blissfully into it, too tired to deepen the kiss any further but just curling comfortably into Karkat’s touch.

“I’m really glad that bubble shoved us in there together,” Karkat murmurs softly, resting his forehead against Dave’s, “I don’t know what’s gonna happen to us but...I think we can do anything together.”

“Heh,” Dave laughs gently, “That’s gay, dude.” Karkat growls faintly against his chest. “But yeah, I get it,” he adds, “me too. Do you ever… think about that, you know? Like, the future?”

“I try not to,” Karkat says, “Whatever happens will happen. Right now things are good, so let’s just… focus on that?”

Dave smiles again, pressing his face down into Karkat’s messy hair. “Yeah,” he says, “You’re right. But, you know, I’ve got a feeling we’re both gonna be just fine.”

Karkat moves his head out from under Dave’s chin to look up at him. “Yeah?” He asks.

“Yeah,” Dave nods, “And then we’ll make a new universe and build ourselves a little house there.”

Karkat lets out a small yawn, and then nuzzles the side of his face further into the pillow under his head. “Oh yeah?” He hums, “And what does this house look like?”

“Small, cute, probably a fucking mess,” Dave says, “We plant little flowers outside and then a week later you forget about it and trample right over them. That sorta thing. Domestic. Simple.” It occurs to Dave that maybe it’s too early in their relationship to be talking about this sort of thing, but another part of him can’t help but focus on the thought of a safe, simple future with Karkat by his side. It’s a nice calm thought amongst everything they’ve experienced.

“That… sounds kinda nice,” Karkat says tiredly, stifling another yawn. He wriggles further into the pillow, kicking a leg out softly so that his foot brushes against Dave’s leg, and Dave drapes an arm loosely over his waist.

“Mmh,” Dave hums in agreement, “It does.” He’s getting more and more tired now, eyes slipping shut every time he tries to hold them open, and he blinks tiredly up at Karkat for a second before Karkat lets his own head loll forwards against Dave’s chest.

“G’night, Dave,” Karkat murmurs, his grip on Dave’s clothes loosening as his body slowly relaxes.

“Night, Kat,” Dave says softly, gently pressing a kiss into Karkat’s hair as the troll drifts off in his arms, a tiny soft purr rattling through his chest as his breathing slows. Dave strokes his hand gently over the soft material of Karkat's sweater, and yawns deeply as he finally lets his eyes slide closed. It’s been a long time since he felt so safe, falling asleep in somebody’s arms.

_**☽✧** the end **✧☾**_

～～～～～

_hold me in this wild, wild world_  
_‘cause in your warmth i forget how cold it can be_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's it! it's kinda strange to be ending this, it's been such a big part of my life for the last month and honestly has been the only thing keeping me busy, but i'm also happy i could draw it to such a nice conclusion. i have so many other ideas about this story line left, like what every other character would have suffered in their own bubble, but yeah, this is it for now i guess. i've had these ideas in my head for so long and it feels great to have finally been able to bring them all together into this.  
> so anyway, before i end up rambling for too long, thank you so much to every single person who's read this, given kudos, commented, bookmarked, shared this with anyone, anything. it means so much to me to see this get so much more attention than i'd ever expected. i'm so grateful for you all. i hope this has brought some happiness into your lives. thank you all so much <3


End file.
